Road engineering holds the safety key

Assam Cabinet’s decision to revise maximum speed limits for motor vehicles in a bid to prevent fatalities on roads in the state.
Road engineering holds the safety key

Assam Cabinet's decision to revise maximum speed limits for motor vehicles in a bid to prevent fatalities on roads in the state. Apart from speed, addressing multiple other factors responsible for fatal road accidents is critical to making roads safer. A tragic road mishap at Sipajhar on early Tuesday morning, in which a speeding truck rammed at pedestrians leaving five dead and three critically injured, is a grim reminder of finding an urgent solution to the problem of roads in the state remaining unsafe for pedestrians. This was not the first such accident and similar accidents in the past in several parts of the state, including Guwahati city of speeding vehicles mowing down pedestrians, indicate that without provision of safe lanes for pedestrians and bicycle riders on both sides of roads, such fatal accidents will recur. The problem has become acute for people living along four-lane and other national highways, state highways as service roads for these highways are non-existent for most stretches of these highways. From morning walkers, school and college-going students, teachers, to farmers and other residents walking along the sides of highways with speeding vehicles zooming past them is a regular sight. With no barrier or pavement to mark the walking lane separated from the fast-moving lanes of motor vehicles, the risk of pedestrians being hit by vehicles remains high. Mere capping of speed limits, without structural changes in highways, does not change the situation much. Safer lanes for pedestrians, on the other hand, can facilitate relaxing the speed limits for faster movement of vehicles along national and state highways. The lack of awareness of mandatory use of pedestrian crossings and the tendency of a section of motorists to ignore the road signage of pedestrian crossings is another key factor behind the rise in fatal accidents in the state and elsewhere in the country. State Transport Department, Public Works Department, National Highway Authority of India collaborating with local panchayats, clubs, NGOs, educational institutions, local transporters' bodies, and cab operators can turn the road safety campaigns into popular social movements if such campaigns are not limited routine observation of a road safety week. Devoting a few minutes during morning assemblies in schools, during the first period of college and university classes, the first few minutes of all public meetings, social and religious gatherings and social media messaging can turn campaigns into a powerful social movement to build the desired awareness on road safety. Highway authorities and government taking parallel initiatives to undertake the structural changes, providing adequate signage, and strict enforcement of speed limits will be crucial for initiatives to road safety campaigns as a social movement. Improving road condition, regular maintenance, adequate lighting, and clear marking of driving and walking zones are essential for both seamless movements of vehicles and road safety. National and state highways passing through the state are going to play a critical role in the operationalization of the Motor Vehicle Agreement in the BBIN sub-region (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) for seamless movement connectivity in the Asian sub-region. Bangladesh, India and Nepal have already finalized the Memorandum of Understanding to be signed for operationalization of the MVA which means more vehicles will come on the roads and the state cannot afford to be caught unprepared for the sudden rise in traffic volumes. Fine prints of the MoU for operationalization of MVA are not available but pressure for raising the maximum speed limit by traders and commercial transport players to cut down travel time cannot be ruled out. Construction of four-lane National Highway 37 and several key road projects in the state languishing in long delays and poor maintenance have resulted in dilapidated conditions along long stretches of highway becoming a contributing factor to road fatalities in the state. Potholes appearing in completed highway stretches also point toward poor maintenance. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport observed in a recent report that the budget allocation under Maintenance and Repair of National Highways is just 1.24% of the overall allocation for the Ministry for 2022-23. The Committee states that budgetary allocation for the highway network of a developed economy like the United States, where it is more than 50%, cannot directly be compared with that of India, which needs to expand its National Highway network at a rapid pace but insists that the concentration on the expansion of the NH network alone cannot be permitted to sideline the need for high-quality maintenance of existing NH network in the country. The committee has recommended developing a mechanism to quantify the condition of all NH stretches objectively, using international standards as a benchmark and the Ministry earmarking higher allocation for maintenance and repair. The State government can refer to the parliamentary panel's report to impress upon the Central government for timely maintenance and repair of national highways. Road safety rules are a must, but building safer roads is just as important.

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