Geneva based International Road Federation (IRF) a global road safety body working for better and safer roads world-wide will be conducting a Road Safety Audit on the accident prone section of Ahmedabad-Mumbai Highway, to identify and remove deficiencies on that section. This comes in the wake of the recent mishap which occurred in the most accident prone section of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Highway.
“Concerned over rising road accidents in the country and recent fatal road accident in which eminent businessman and an excellent human being, Cyrus Mistry lost his life on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Highway, IRF has decided to conduct a Road Safety Audit on the accident prone stretch to evaluate and identify road deficiencies.“, said Mr K K Kapila, President Emeritus, International Road Federation (IRF).
“As per NCRB, in year 2021, India accounted for over 4.03 lakh road accidents in which 1.55 lakh people died and another 3.7 lakh were injured. This translates to 0.53% increase in death rate as compared to 2020. India’s performance over the years has not shown significant improvement and the loss due to road traffic accidents is equivalent to 5-7 per cent of the country’s GDP (as per World Bank Report June 2022). Road Safety Audit involves evaluating highway improvement scheme during design, at the end of construction and post construction, to identify deficiencies and to suggest measures to eliminate or mitigate them. These audits are undertaken by teams of specialists trained in the skills of road safety engineering. Strategic road schemes and the majority of new works are required to have an independent Road Safety Audit to take corrective measures to reduce accidents, “ said Mr. Kapila.
“The worldwide concept of forgiving roads is getting popular with zero fatalities. The 5E’s of safe road system include Engineering of Roads, Engineering of Vehicles and Policy Corrections, Education, Enforcement and Emergency care which should be simultaneously carried out on all the roads. “Said Mr Satish Parakh, President, IRF-IC and Managing Director, Ashoka Buildcon.
“India accounts for more than 11 per cent of global fatal road accidents, highest in the world. The International Road Federation (IRF), has taken a vow to reduce fatal road accidents in the country. Currently, IRF is working in the Seven States, viz, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh on the worst road section, with an aim of correcting these sections by working on all the 5Es to make it the safest road stretches of these States.’’ Said Mr. K. K. Kapila.
