ROAD SAFETY SUMMIT

Statistics state that in India, annually over six lakhs accidents lead to about two lakh deaths. This colossal loss calls for concerted and multidisciplinary preventive and remedial efforts.

In the recently held Economic Times Road Safety Summit 2015 in Mumbai, the focus of the various panel discussions were on topics such as: Innovation for Safe Engineering & Safe Infrastructure; Unleashing the Potential of technology and implementation of ITS system in India and Safe roads Safe India – outlook, opportunities and the way ahead.

The deliberations were on innovative policies, practices and solutions for a better transport management system, the road safety bills and amendment. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kamaljeet Soi, International Road Safety Expert, said, “A vehicular accident occurs every second minute causing a death every third minute there is a death. India has 1% of the world’s vehicles, but 11% of the total global RTA deaths. Economic loss amounts to `1, 50000 crores (One lakh fifty thousand crores) an amount that is little less than our defense budget.”

Commenting on modernising infrastructure for road safety, Sonia Sethi, Transport Commissioner, Motor Vehicle Department, Maharashtra, said, “On an average we register almost two lakh vehicles and issue almost the same number of licenses each year in Maharashtra. Thus, we have taken up two very ambitious programs that bring in more objective, scientific interventions directly related to drivers and vehicles. We want to make Maharashtra the first state to have a fully computerized driving test, making the system as stringent and scientific as possible. Moreover, our analysis of vehicular fitness will also now be done scientifically, a system in which a mechanized function will oversee this study of fitness.”

The summit, centered on the theme “Safe Systems – Safe Road – Safe Citizen”, had speakers like Dinesh Parab (Head-HSE, Reliance Infrastructure); Ashutosh Atray (Principal Trustee, RoadSafe Foundation); Rashmi Urdhwaresh (Director, ARAI); Dr. C.S.R.K. Prasad (Professor, Civil Engineering, NIT, Warangal); Gopal R Patil (Associate Professor, Transportation Systems Engineering, IIT Bombay); M M Kulkarni (Director, National Safety Council India); M Ramchandani (JMD, MSRDC) and Dr Satish Dharap (Vice President- Trauma Association of India).