1,05,749 deaths: India tops road accident record book

While China has for the past four years been bringing down its road accident figures by an annual average of 10.8 per cent, India’s figures were only getting worse. While some 38,000 people were mowed down on National Highways in 2006, up from 35,000 in 2005, over 67,000 people have been killed on other roads, up from 59,000 in 2005.

Even as the ministry confirmed these figures in the Lok Sabha, it has refused to take responsibility for the bloodbath. Claiming that “safety of road users is primarily the responsibility of the state Government concerned”, it indicated that it was doing all it could by setting up driver training schools, launching publicity campaigns, roping in NGOs and providing ambulances along highways.

However, the ministry continues to sit over the Sundar Committee report and the long-awaited Road Safety Bill. The draft National Road Safety Bill is based on the recommendations of the Sundar Committee, which suggested a series of urgent road safety measures besides setting up state-level road safety boards. The committee report was submitted to the ministry in February 2007, but has not yet been tabled in Parliament.

Similarly, proposed amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act have not yet been implemented. The amendments propose to introduce strict penalties for traffic rule violations and the Parliamentary Standing Committee — which has also taken an inordinately long time to submit its recommendations to the ministry — has called for stringent and strong deterrent measures against traffic violations besides rigorous punishments for causing fatalities.