Delhi’s Road Safety Policy to be finalised soon

• Second meeting of the Supreme Court mandated Delhi Road Safety Council

The Delhi government on Monday held wide-ranging discussions on the draft Road Safety Policy for the national capital.

The discussions were part of the second meeting of the reconstituted Delhi Road Safety Council, it was attended by officials, academicians and experts from organisations and think tanks working on road safety and sustainable transportation. It was chaired by the Transport Minister, Shri Kailash Gahlot.

As per the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, the Road Safety Council of each state has to mandatorily meet at least twice a year. This was the first meeting of Delhi’s Road Safety Council in the year 2018, and the focus of today’s meeting was to discuss and finalise a comprehensive Road Safety Policy for Delhi.

Delhi figures as among the most unsafe cities in India for road users. During 2016, 7375 fatal road crashesoccurred in Delhi in which 7154 people were injured and 1591 people lost their lives.

The aim of the Road Safety Policy for Delhi is to prevent, reduce and check road injuries and fatalities on various roads of Delhi in coordination with all stakeholders and government agencies, and by focusing on 4 Es– Education, Enforcement, Engineering and Emergency Care.

Several valuable suggestions were received at the Road Safety Council meeting to ensure that Delhi government adopts a progressive policy that can lay the foundation for it to emerge as the safety Indian city for road users in next 5 years.

A key suggestion recommended by several members at the meeting, including academic experts from IIT Delhi and School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), was to strengthen the Road Safety Cell in the Transport department so that it becomes capable of conducting scientific crash investigations and using rigorous data to identify the root causes behind road crashes in Delhi.

It was also decided at the meeting to adopt comprehensive guidelines to ensure District Road Safety Committees in Delhi, which are headed by the respective District Magistrates, meet regularly and are able to efficiently discharge their duties.