RAJASTHAN TO SWITCH TO AUTOMATED DRIVING TEST AND TRAINING SOON –PWD MINISTER YOONUS KHAN

“Rajasthan Government in an effort to reducing increasing road accidents in the state has initiated process of setting up automated driving test and training centre in the state on the lines of one already set up in Punjab state. These centres will train and issue driving licenses to new drivers without human intervention “ said Mr Yoonus Khan, Minister, Public Works Department (PWD) who is also who also head Group of Ministers on road Safety set up by Central Government while inaugurating a day long conference on ‘Fast Tracking Road Safety Initiatives in Rajasthan’ jointly organized by Geneva based International Road Federation (IRF) and Government of Rajasthan.here today.

“The automated centres will be using latest technology to provide training to drivers on an automated track as well as theoretical training and the applicants who clear the tests will be provided learning and permanent driving License within minutes .The automated track train terrain will have all kind of slopes and touches to enable the applicants to drive on all kind of terrain, he said.

“In Rajasthan state during the year 2015 about 10,500 people died due to road accidents ,the trend is showing increase during the year 2016 also. This is happening despite decrease in total number of road accidents, it’s a matter of deep concern and Government is working on various ways and means to improve road safety on roads as well as vehicle safety and increasing public transport. Introduction of wearing of helmet is having its impact as maximum number road deaths are of Two wheeler drivers in the state” Mr Khan said.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between PWD, Rajasthan government and Geneva based International Road Federation (IRF) a global body working world wide for better and safer roads .As per MoU signed by M L Meena ,Secretary, PWD, Rajasthan Government and K K Kapila , Chairman , IRF both will ok for trauma care planning ,identifying and removal of black spots and spreading educating and generating awareness on road safety in the state. 

Eminent road and transport professionals, engineers and road safety experts attended the conference inaugurated by Rajasthan PWD Minister Shri Yunus Khan along with the Addl. Chief Secretary, PWD Mr. D. B. Gupta and other senior bureaucrats to discuss various ways and means to improve road safety initiatives in the Desert state, ranked fifth in the country in terms of number of road traffic deaths in the year 2015, as per a report released by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

Mr D B Gupta , Chief secretary ,PWD , Rajasthan government speaking on the occassion said that the State government has set up a nodal multi agency cell for road safety for better coordination among various agencies including PWD, Traffic police, health department and civic agencies to end confusion for improvement in road safety. Apart from this about 1000 KM of state highways are being road audited to find black spots and remove engineering faults on roads .

Mr Manoj Bhat, director General, Rajasthan Police speaking on the occasion said the major cause of increasing road accident deaths despite decline in accidents is lack of public transport in rural Rajasthan as most people use tractors and jeeps as public transport. In Jaipur more technology including use of digital camera’s will be used and from Oct 1 this year a study is being conducted in league with a private research company in East Jaipur to study accidents after post crash to find reasons.

“India accounted for more than 10 per cent of the global road accidents in the year 2015 with 1,46,000 fatalities and 4,80,000 injuries. Road fatalities in Rajasthan was 10,510 which was about 4.8% of the total fatalities in the country. India is a signatory to the UN Decade of Action Plan 2011-2020 which envisages a reduction in road accident fatalities by 50% by 2020” said Mr K K Kapila, Chairman, International Road Federation (IRF) speaking on the occasion

“Some of the road safety related issues were discussed during the day long conference will include blackspot identification through road safety audits, blackspot engineering interventions and implementation, Road safety education through school curriculum, enhanced First aid trauma care, Introduction to Intelligent Transport Solutions (ITS) and the Roadmap for India” said Mr Kapila.

“Eminent road Transport experts and specialists participating at the road safety conference include Mr. K. K. Kapila, Chairman, IRF, Mr Vijay Chhibber, Former Secretary, Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Mr. D. B. Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Mr R.K.Pandey, Member National Highway Authority of India, Mr. B. L. Soni, Additional Director General of Police, Mr. Shailendra Agrawal, Transport Commissioner, Mr.Shivlahiri Sharma, Chief Engineer, PWD, Rajasthan, Dr. Amit Gupta, Trauma Care Centre of AIIMS, Dr. Tanu Jain, Asst. Director General, DGHS, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, among others’’, said Mrs.(Dr.) Mridul Bhasin, Managing Trustee, Muskaan Foundation for road safety.