The blanket ban ordered by the Supreme Court on parking of any heavy or commercial vehicle on any National Highway (NH) carriageway is a decisive intervention to prevent fatal crashes caused by stationary trucks and other heavy vehicles along NH stretches. The SC order fills a long-standing enforcement gap which allowed stationary heavy vehicles to turn killers in recurring highway crashes. Strict judicial oversight will be crucial to ensure that the SC directive is enforced both in letter and spirit. The apex court ordered that no heavy or commercial vehicle shall park/stop on any NH carriageway or paved shoulder except at a designated bay, lay-by, or wayside amenity. This calls for mapping the existing designated bus bay, truck lay-by or wayside amenities along NH sections across states to ascertain if such infrastructure is adequate to cater to the flow of heavy and long-distance vehicles. The National Highway Authorities of India (NHAI) is expected to undertake special surveys in Assam and other Northeastern states of availability of such infrastructure, as the NHs in the region witness heavy movement of trucks which bring supplies of food and other essentials from outside the region to cater to growing demand for such items. The SC has ordered the removal of construction/operation of any new dhaba, eatery, or commercial structure within the Right of Way (ROW) of any NH with immediate effect. Immediate enforcement of this directive is critical to improve road safety, as eateries and commercial establishments attract vehicles to park on carriageways, which creates obstructions by reducing sight distance and increasing risks of fatal collisions along high-speed corridors. District Magistrates will have to enforce demolition/removal of all new or existing unauthorized structures within 60 days to comply with the SC directive to remove all such unauthorized structures. Even though NHs constitute only two per cent of the total road network in India, they account for nearly 30% of road fatalities, which lay bare yawning and persistent safety gaps along the high-speed corridors. Regarding construction of truck lay-by facilities, the SC order specified that NHAI and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways shall ensure construction of such facilities at intervals of every 75 km on all NHs, and shall operationalize the Wayside Amenities (WSA) Policy to ensure that all WSAs shall include rest areas, food services, washrooms, safe parking, first-aid facilities, and retro-reflective signage visible from 500 metres. The NHAI/MoRTH may also consider providing more or extra truck lay-by facilities, wherever possible on the stretch of National Highway, as the drivers of heavy transport vehicles which are continuously being driven could be provided resting facilities, the order further states, which outlines the safety framework. Lack of adequate service roads is another key contributing factor to highway fatalities, as in the absence of service lanes to separate the residential areas, eateries and wayside amenities, slow-moving traffic leaving these zones is compelled to merge with high-speed traffic flows on the highway carriageway, leaving little room for emergency safety manoeuvres. Besides, buildings of new establishments that come up abutting the ROW on account of ribbon development spurred by the construction of new highways or expansion of existing highways, when service lanes are not constructed to create the required separation, trigger traffic intersections and increase risks of highway collisions. Ironically, vast stretches of NH sections in the region passing through residential areas are without service lanes and even in some areas where service lanes have been provided, the capacity of these are inadequate to handle the rising volume of local traffic which leads spilling of a sizeable section of slow-moving vehicle on highway carriage way resulting in unsafe mixed-mode of traffic. Motorbikes and scooters, three-wheelers, battery-operated passenger vehicles, and carriage vans merging with high-speed highway traffic are a common sight along many NH stretches in the region as they try to avoid the traffic congestion in service lanes and reach destinations in the shortest possible time. What makes the scenario even more perilous is wrong-side driving by a section of these local trafficsis rampant in some NH stretches in Assam, and such reckless driving has added to risks of fatal crashes due to lack of enforcement of safe driving norms. A pragmatic solution to this problem is strengthening the local public transport system so that the demand for private remains low to keep the service lanes adequate facilitate smooth flow of local traffic and keeping slow-moving local vehicles off the highways passing through large residential/commercial areas. The SC order sends an unambiguous message to the executive: a highway must not become a corridor of peril due to administrative lethargy or infrastructural gaps, and the loss of even a single life to avoidable hazards like illegal parking, black spots, etc. reflects a grave failure of the state to protect its citizens – an administrative failure and apathy which must not be condoned.