Message
The International Road Federation (IRF), a not-for-profit worldwide
federation, is deeply committed to enhance road safety across the
Globe. Each year nearly 1.3 million people die as a result of road
crashes, 40 to 50 million people sustain non-fatal injuries resulting
in disability worldwide. 80 to 90 percent of road traffic deaths occur
in low and middle income countries. The economic loss on account of
motor vehicle crashes has been estimated between 1% to 3% of the respective
GNP of various countries in the world, resulting in an yearly loss
of over US$ 1.3 trillion. The situation in India is also very grim
with about 1,40,000 deaths and 5,00,000 injuries due to road crashes
every year. It is thus imperative that this menace is addressed and
all efforts are made to reduce road casualties and fatalities, which
will help unlock the growth by freeing precious resources for more
productive use.
The
International Road Federation has been pursuing this cause, which
has culminated in the proclamation of the Decade of Action for Road
Safety for the period 2011-2020 by the UN General Assembly in March
2010. Pursuant to this, the UN Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) has
enunciated a brief document aiming to guide Governments in planning
their activities to implement the Decade of Action nationally, by
addressing 5 pillars, viz. management, road infrastructure, vehicle
design, road users and post-crash care. Accordingly, the United Nations
has launched a Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, aiming
to reduce the forecast level of road deaths by 50%.
Actions at Government level have to be comprehensive and all pervasive
so that the benefits percolate to all strata of society. This is required
to be achieved through mass media programmes, clearly enunciating
the 4Es i.e. Engineering, Education, Emergency Care and Enforcement
in their entirety. The Heads of the States and concerned Ministers
need to support the programmes, which will interalia cover interviews
and talk shows involving road safety engineers, trainers, eminent
social workers, relevant trauma centre doctors and traffic police
commissioners, dwelling on the road safety issues critically affecting
the local conditions.
With the aim of reducing road fatalities, IRF India Chapter has since
2006-07 been organizing Regional Conferences on various topics related
to roads and road safety. The 8th Conference being held on “Road
Infrastructure for Safe Mobility”, would focus on the status
of road safety measures in India duly considering international experiences.
The deliberations of this Conference will therefore, be extremely
relevant to deal with road safety problems related to road infrastructure.
I would like to urge the Government to immediately set-up the National
Road Safety and Traffic Management Board, with a dedicated Road Safety
Fund, so that the various Road Safety Programmes receive due fillip
and get implemented in a time bound manner.
An International Exhibition is also being organized to showcase the
latest technologies in traffic and safety, and I hope these technologies
will get progressively adopted in India.
