Around 250 Road Safety experts who are proponents of safer roads, safer vehicles and intelligent transport systems and road safety activists will interact with the policy makers and law enforcement authorities in the Two day National Vehicle Accident Conference (MoVACon 2020 to be held in the Gujarat state capital Ahmedabad on February 20-21, 2020.
This Two day national Conference, endorsed by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) is being organised by the Lifeline Foundation (a Vadodara based Non-Government Organisation (NGO), that pioneered Highway Trauma Care in the country in close association with the International Road Federation (IRF) – India Chapter, the Society of Indian Automobile Association (SIAM) and the Gujarat Road Safety Authority. The Conference will be inaugurated by Mr Ratan P Watal, Member Secretary, EAC-PM EAC-PM on 20th February.
“About 250 Eminent road safety experts, non-profits, road builders, government functionaries, corporate CSR proponents, automobile experts, law enforcement agency, WHO representatives and trauma and emergency care proponents will be attending the two day Conference to discuss road safety challenges in India, including the 4E’s of Engineering, Education, Enforcement and Emergency Care, the key drivers for road safety. India accounted for about 1.5 lakh road accident deaths during the year 2018, amongst the highest in the world. Of the total fatalities, around 50% were in the age group of 18 to 34 years. The experts and delegates attending the conference will strive to learn from each other to formulate a collective strategy to bring about marked decrease in fatalities, injuries as also the number of road accidents in the country” said Padma Shri Dr Subroto Das co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lifeline Foundation.
“Currently, India accounts for around 12% to the global road traffic fatalities. The Indian roads witness over 500,000 road accidents each year resulting in about 147,000 fatalities which is also the leading cause of death among youth and children in the country. The heavy penalties in the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill – which acts as the primary traffic law enforcement tool worldwide, is an important measure towards strengthening the legal framework for improving road safety in India” said Mr K K Kapila, President Emeritus, International Road Federation (IRF), a main speaker at the inaugural plenary session.
“As Signatory to The UN Decade of Action Plan, reaffirmed in Brasilia in 2015, India is committed to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities by half by the year 2020 .With this objective, IRF has been undertaking initiatives under the 4Es of Engineering (roads and vehicular), Education (bring about attitudinal change in the school children through consistent road safety education; education of masses through mass media campaigns – screening of short films in cinemas, etc.), Emergency Care towards strengthening trauma management during pre-hospital care, Enforcement for better traffic and road user management.” added Mr Kapila
“Some of the subjects that will be discussed during the Two day meet will include Global Plan for Decade of Safety Action – 2011 to 2020:How has India fared?, : Emergency Care System Framework of WHO for Road Trauma, : Road Safety Legislation: Are we doing enough? Financing of Innovation for Road Safety, Intelligent Transport System, Road Safety Campaign – Do they really work? Newer Strategies” said Ms Sushmita Das, Co-Founder Lifeline Foundation.
Among eminent speakers at the Two day conference will include Mr K Rajeswara Rao, Senior Advisor, EAC-PM, Dr Amit Gupta, Professor, Division of Trauma Surgery and Critical Care, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS): Prof P K Sikdar, Advisor, International Road Federation, Mr Balraj Bhanot, Chairman, TEDC(BIS), , Karuna Raina of Savelife Foundation, Sanjay Randhar, Managing Director, Gujarat Venture Capital Finance Limited, Mr Ashish Chutani, Maruti Suzuki India Limited and Dr Tamorish Kole, President, Asian Society for Emergency Medicine.
Foreign speakers include Dr Dario Gonzales, Former Medical Chief at NYPD, New York, Mr Jerry Overton, Chair of International Academies for Emergency Dispatch and Dr Sarah Abdul Karim, Emergency Expert from Malaysia.
