Page 54 - Traffic Infra Tech Magazine

SAFETY

Mainstreaming road safety audits:

Making Indian roads safer

India’s roads claim 150,000 lives a year, with more than 500,000
seriously injured, and the figures have been steadily increasing for

the last 25 years, according to Government estimates. But India is
now seizing a unique opportunity to reverse this trend. As part of a
national push for modernizing and improving the country’s network,

tens of thousands of kilometres of roads are being constructed by the
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and state agencies. And
they are committed to make road safety a central part of this effort.

mong the several • First in 2014, MoRTH Audit Manual to guide and
government initiatives mandated and issued standardize the audit process.
being implemented, guidelines to its agencies that This manual thoroughly covered
a key one is the Road all road projects costing more the procedures to carry out road
ASafety Audit. than $800,000 will have to safety audits at the design,
Until 2014 road safety audits mandatorily undergo road construction, and operation
were rare and not required in safety audits. Subsequently, stages, with illustrative
India. A World Bank-financed MoRTH updated and issued examples. The Indian Roads
initiative—the National Highways detailed guidelines based on Congress (IRC) deliberated this
Interconnectivity Improvement experience and feedback. draft in its committees and came
Project (NHIIP)—helped introduce • Complemented with up with a final product which is
systematic use of design-stage road standardized procedures now under print, and will apply
safety audits across India’s road in the form of a Road Safety for all the types of roads in the
system, starting with the project’s
1,100 km of roads.
Among the changes made
possible under the audits were
geometric design improvements
allowing for better geometry and
sight distance, the incorporation of
speed calming measures, pedestrian
facilities, junction improvements,
crash barriers, signs and markings
and more. All these road safety
features increased costs by less than
five percent.
However, to mainstream and
sustain such efforts, a multi-pronged
approach was required:

54 April - May ’19 / TrafficInfraTech www.trafficinfratech-com-500653.hostingersite.com