“We urge the Delhi government to fix killer accident prone black spots in Delhi as these black spots, which are confirmed accident sites, where accidents occur again and again have also been identified by the Delhi Traffic police as well as the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Delhi alone has about 20 identified killer black spots and in fact it was in one of these spots where a recently reported accident had also occurred a few days ago” said Mr K.K.Kapila, Chairman, International Road Federation (IRF) .
“The 20 identified black spots in the capital include the ISBT Kashmere Gate, Punjabi Bagh Chowk, Mukarba Chowk, AIIMS, Bilaspur Chowk (GTK), ISBT Anand Vihar, Alipore crossing, Mahipalpur Chowk, Dhaula Kuan, Rajokri Flyover, Shahadra Flyover, Nigambodh Ghat, Moti Bagh, Wazirabad Chowk, Peera Garhi Chowk, Shastri Park, Brar Square, Nangloi Chowk, Mukundpur Chowk, Burari Chowk and Ghazipur red light. The fixing of the flaws in these locations will greatly help bring down capital’s morbid record of losing about 1500 lives per annum “ said Mr Kapila.
” Though the fatalities have plummeted from 2,153 in 2010 to 1,505 in 2017 in Delhi, the capital still has the dubious distinction of recording highest number of road deaths. The Blackspots can be improved through application of accident investigation and engineering prevention techniques. Simple engineering measures such as improving visibility by removing hazards, installation of street lighting, redesigning of junctions and roadways to accommodate the needs of pedestrians and cyclists, provision of appropriate road markings and traffic are a few proven measures, which significantly reduce road accidents” added Mr Kapila.
“We urge the government to make every possible effort to change the road safety culture, while establishing clear road safety norms. The Global agencies involved in road safety have blamed lack of policies and enforcement as main reasons behind increasing road fatalities in the country.” said Mr Kapila.
India is a signatory to the United Nation’s Decade of Action plan for Road Safety across the world which aims to reduce road fatalities by 50% by the year 2020.
“Several measures towards improving road safety, including the much awaited amendment in the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), improvements in roads from engineering perspective, road safety audits in all stages of road construction, to be undertaken right from the planning stage, besides identification and remedy of blackspots which account for almost 90% of road fatalities in India will help reduce fatal road accidents” added Mr Kapila.
“The IRF had also recommended several road engineering measures, improvement of faulty signages and trained about 300 road engineers from various government agencies for conducting road safety audits. The Central Govt had also released funds for road safety which have remained unutilized ” said Mr Kapila
The other suggestions include enforcement of traffic rules and provisions of Motor Vehicles Act 1988. The key features of the MV Act 1988 include wearing of helmet, use of reflective tapes by trucks and buses, mandatory fitment of Front Under Run Protection (FURP), Side Under Run Protection Device (SUPD) and Rear Under Run Protection Device (RUPD) in trucks and buses and strict action against over loading of vehicles.
