Govt plans dedicated two-wheeler lanes, over bridges to reduce road accidents

The Road Transport Department is working on a plan to build dedicated two-wheeler lanes on the state highways and urban roads, and pedestrian foot over bridges (FOBs) or underpasses along major urban arteries. Non-segregation of traffic is the main cause of high number of crashes in India.

According to government statistics, nearly 44% of road accidents and fatalities in India involve two-wheelers. Likewise, around 17% of road accidents and 19% of deaths are caused by pedestrians. Pedestrians, cyclists and two-wheelers are classified as vulnerable road users (VRU) and more than half of people who die on the road fall into this category.

Autonexa has learned that the Road Transport Ministry has circulated a consultation document titled 'Safe' to define strategies to reduce road accidents and deaths, which focuses on VRUs. In fact, Malaysia, which also has a high proportion of two-wheelers in the total number of vehicles like India, has started developing dedicated lanes for such vehicles along highways in order to separate traffic.

Besides these interventions, the Ministry proposed inclusion of road safety in school curricula and in annual workshops on road safety, taking into account that more than 50% of road fatalities are young people (under 35 years of age).

As per the proposal, the scheme aims to achieve a 70% reduction in accidents and fatalities in terms of 10,000 vehicles and a 50% reduction in terms of 10,000 kilometers of road length. The sources said that in parallel they seek to strengthen institutional capacities, policy frameworks and financial structures. The implementation of the interventions will be precise and measurable.

The proposed programme has been conceptualised as a centrally-sponsored scheme (CSS), with an expenditure of Rs 14,000 crore, which will be funded through central and state budgetary resources. While the Center will bear INR 9,948 crore, the remaining amount of INR 4,053 crore will be borne by the states and UTs.

The scheme will have a three- fold approach: mandatory initiatives; Initiatives related to objectives; and state-level traffic safety rating interventions under each initiative. It is designed to enable states and union territories to prioritize critical issues, promote best practices at the grassroots level and allocate responsibility and accountability among states and union territories.

Mandatory road safety interventions with milestones will be measured annually against key results. Target-linked incentives will be provided to states and union territories based on achievement of annual targets set for specific road safety interventions. States and union territories will be ranked on the basis of reduction in road accidents, deaths and injuries each year.

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