Missing links to road safety in Assam

 Assam reporting 7,432 road accidents in 2023-24 financial year ending on March 31 which claimed lives 3,298 people and left 5,910 injured speaks volumes about the roads in the state continuing to be unsafe. The elephant in the room seems to be the disconnect between the awareness campaign and the system to enforce safety norms. The Transport Department raising a fine of Rs 106 crore for traffic violations and Rs 95 crore through e-challans as a fine shows that road users are okay with paying fines and penalties rather than adhering to safety regulations and traffic norms. In February alone, 621 accidents were reported, in which 300 lives were lost and 507 were injured. Ironically, National Road Safety Week was observed in January to promote road safety practices. It is a matter of grave concern that fatalities on the roads fail to deter road users from refraining from overspeeding or wrong-side driving, which are known to be two major causes behind rising fatal accidents. Parking of trucks and other goods-carrying vehicles on highways and other roadsides is another contributing factor behind rising fatalities on the roads in the state. The recurrence of vehicles colliding with these parked vehicles from behind is reflective of lessons not being learned by all stakeholders. Parking of vehicles escaping the attention of the transport and police departments is a grey area that needs to be addressed on a priority basis. Construction of adequate truck lay bays along the highway is a solution known to the National Highways Authority of India and state transport departments, but road users continuing to grapple with the problem is baffling. It also points towards priorities that are either missed during the review of crash vulnerabilities or not acted upon even after being included in the list of priorities to improve road safety. Expansion and extension of highways, both national and state highways, have brought more vehicles onto the roads. Assam’s witnessing flurry of development activities has also led to a rise in the number of commercial vehicles on highways and state roads. But the pace at which safety measures are taken is not being able to match the pace at which the number of vehicles on the roads in the state is rising. This gap needs to be bridged at the earliest if the roads are to become safer and fatalities are to be reduced. The challenge is to translate the decisions taken based on yearly and periodic reviews of black spots, increasing vulnerabilities due to rash driving, and wrong-side driving into a time-bound actionable agenda. Putting in place the system of fixing accountability on all stakeholders if decisions taken in review meetings could not be implemented for any unreasonable reasons should get policy push. Drastic measures against traffic norms and safety norms Violators responsible for fatal road accidents due to violations of norms and regulations, such as suspension of driving licences for a longer period and the imposition of heavy penalties, can be expected to have deterrent action. The deterrence will increase if such measures are widely publicised, not just through media advertisements but also through prominent displays of punitive measures along highways and vulnerable state roads. Signage for toll gates is more prominently displayed than safety cautions, which may give a clue about some corrective measures that can be taken without much financial involvement. For the long run, making it mandatory for all vehicle drivers and owners to attend road safety awareness meetings on dates of their choice at least once a year can be considered by the Ministry of Transport and the state transport department. This will also help the department get an idea of the gaps in the routine awareness drives and the actual status of awareness among vehicle owners and users. Educating non-vehicle road users on road safety is equally important but remains low on the list of priorities. Many accidents also occur due to sudden and unexpected crossings of highways by people living in nearby areas, either on foot or while riding a bicycle. In such cases, the vehicle owners may not be at fault, and accidents may occur even if the vehicle is driven adhering to all safety regulations and norms. This is a task that cannot be left alone for the transport or police departments but must be shouldered by people living along highways and state roads, community institutions, including educational institutions, panchayats, local bodies, and NGOs. These institutions need to play an active role in the awareness drive, which must be carried out throughout the year in collaboration with the transport, police, and district authorities. Roping in automobile industry stakeholders in such collaborative initiatives can help raise the standards of communication as they are the first contact during the purchase of a vehicle. It is high time to join all the missing links to make road travel safer in Assam.