Lok Sabha Question No. 1505 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-26
Subject: Road Accidents
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: NIHAL CHAND CHAUHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 1505

ANSWERED ON 26 th JULY, 2018

## ROAD  ACCIDENTS

†1505.  SHRI  NIHAL  CHAND:

Will  the Minister of  ROAD TRANSPORT AND  HIGHWAYS

## सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  State-wise  number  of  road  accidents  reported  and  the  number  of  persons  killed  in these accidents across the country during the last one year and the steps taken to check these accidents;
- (b) whether the number of road accidents reported and the persons died in these accidents has declined as compared to previous years and if not, the effective steps taken for checking these accidents; and
- (c) whether the  Government  proposes  to introduce any insurance cover or provide compensation to the families/ relatives of the people died in the road accidents?

## ANSWER

## THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI  MANSUKH  L. MANDAVIYA)

- (a)   to  (b) As per the data received from police department of States/UTs,  significant reduction in road accidents and fatality have been achieved in the calendar year 2017. Incidence of road accidents have declined by 3.3 per cent in 2017 as compared to 2016. There is a 1.9 per cent fall in the number of persons killed in road accidents in 2017.

| Parameter                | 2016     | 2017     |   %change over previous year |
|--------------------------|----------|----------|------------------------------|
| Number of road accidents | 4,80,652 | 4,64,910 |                         -3.3 |
| Number of persons killed | 1,50,785 | 1,47,913 |                         -1.9 |

State/UT-wise details of number of road accidents persons killed in road accidents during the calendar years 2016 and 2017  is Annexed.

Ministry  has taken a number of steps including long terms strategy to prevent road accidents and road accident fatalities as per details mentioned under: -

- 1) The Government has approved a National Road Safety Policy.  This Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws etc.
- 2) The Government has constituted the National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in matters of road safety.
- 3) The Ministry has constituted Group of Ministers of State Transport Ministers to examine the best practices of Transport and suggest issues to improve road safety.
- 4) Based on the recommendation of Group of Minister, the Ministry introduced Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2017 covering entire gamut of road safety.
- 5) The Bill contains the provision of creation of Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, implementation of Cashless Treatment Scheme during Golden Hour, setting up of a dedicated agency for road safety viz. National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board (NRSTMB), enhancement of penalty for traffic rule violations, etc. which have direct impact on road safety.
- 6) The  Ministry  has  formulated  a  multi-pronged  strategy  to  address  the  issue  of  road  safety based on 4 'E's viz. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care.
- 7) Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.
- 8) Road Safety Audit of selected stretches of National Highways has been taken up.
- 9) The threshold for four laning of national highway has been reduced from 15,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) to 10,000 PCUs. About 52,000 Km of stretches of State Highways has been identified for conversion to national highways.
- 10) Setting  up  of  model  driving  training  institutes  in  States  and  refresher  training  to  drivers  of Heavy Motor Vehicle in the unorganized sector.
- 11) Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety through the electronic and print media.
- 12) Tightening of safety standards for vehicles like Seat Belts, anti-lock braking system etc.
- 13) High  priority  has  been  accorded  to  identification  and  rectification  of  black  spots  (accident prone spots) on national highways.
- 14) Guidelines for identification and rectification of black spots, carrying out road safety audits and  preparation  of  road  safety  improvement  proposals  on  NHs  and  also  guidelines  on implementation of road safety engineering measures on state roads under Central Road Fund (CRF) have been issued.
- 15) 789 black spots based on fatalities in 2011,2012,2013 and 2014 calendars years have been identified. So far 189 spots have already been rectified. Rectification measures at 256 spots have been sanctioned which are in various stages of implementation. 138 spots are on State Government roads / with other agencies. The balance 206 spots would be taken separately or would be rectified as part of ongoing projects.
- 16) As  a  measure  of  supplementing  the  efforts  of  States  /  UTs  for  minimizing  the  accident potential  at  the  identified  locations  /  stretches  through  engineering  improvement  on  state roads, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways had taken a decision to sanction road safety works on state roads with an earmarked allocation of 10% of funds allocated to the state roads under Central Road Fund.
- 17) Ministry has delegated powers to Regional Officers of MORTH for technical approval to the detailed estimates for rectification of identified Road Accident black spots for expediting the rectification process to ensure safety of road users.
- 18) Ministry  had  issued  guidelines  vide  O.M.  dated  14.1.2016  for  taking  up  of  Road  Safety Audits  on  National  Highways  either  as  part  of  EPC/BOT  projects  or  as  stand-alone  Road Safety Audits.
- 19) Guidelines for pedestrian facilities on National Highways for persons with disabilities have also been issued to all States / UTs.
- 20) In order to ensure safe and smooth flow of traffic, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has  envisaged  a  plan  for  replacement  of  all  the  Level  Crossing  on  National  Highways  by ROBs / RUBs and replacement / widening / strengthening of weak and narrow bridges under a  scheme Setu Bhartam. Under this programme, construction of 208 Level Crossings at an estimated cost of Rs. 20,800 Crore are included.
- 21) Two National Level Workshops and several Regional Training workshops in 11 states have been organized on Road Safety Engineering.
- 22) A Certification Course for Road Safety Auditors has been commenced in Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) and 42 Auditors are certified.
- 23) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has constituted a District Road Safety Committee in each district of the country to promote awareness amongst road users under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from the district..
- 24) During  2017-18,  NHAI  has  conducted  the  'Free  Eye  Check-up'  campaign  at  50  selected Toll-Plazas in order to reduce the no. of accidents involving Multi Axle Vehicles/Trucks and distributed free glasses to the Truck Drivers having poor vision.

(  c  )          Pradhan  Mantri  Suraksha  Bima  Yojana (PMSBY) was launched on 9 th May, 2015 by the Government  to  provide  accidental  insurance  cover  including  the  road  accidents. PMSBY  provides accidental death/disability  insurance  cover  of  Rs.  2  Lakhs  for  an  annual  premium  of  Rs.12/-.  Any person within the age group of 18-70 years having a bank account can enrol for PMSBY. The scheme is  offered/  administered through Insurance Companies both public sector and private in tie-up with scheduled commercial banks / Regional Rural Banks / Cooperative Banks concerned.

The Motor Vehicles Act 1988 contains the provision of compensation. As per Section 165(1) of  Motor  Vehicles  Act,  1988,  a  State  Government  may,  by  notification  in  the  official  Gazette, constitute one or more Motor Accidents Claims Tribunals for such area as may be specified in the notification  for  the  purpose  of  adjudicating  upon  claims  for  compensation  in  respect  of  accidents involving  the  death  of,  or  bodily  injury  to,  persons  arising  out  of  the  use  of  motor  vehicles,  or damages  to  any  property  of  the  third  party  so  arising,  or  both.  Sub-section  (2)  of  Section  165 empowers the State Government to appoint such number of members as the State Government may think  fit  to  appoint.  Sub-section  (3)  of  Section  165  empowers  State  Government  to  regulate distribution  of  business  if  there  are  two  or  more  Claims  Tribunals  for  an  area.  Thus,  the  matter regarding disposal of cases by Motor Accident Claims Tribunals comes under the jurisdiction of State Governments.    Ministry  has  increased  the  compensation  amount  for  third  party  mentioned  in  the Second Schedule.

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1505 ANSWERED ON  26/07/2018  ASKED BY .  SHRI  NIHAL  CHAND:

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Number of accidents and Persons Killed in Road Accidents in India during the calendar years : 2016 to 2017

| Sl. No.   | States/UTs               |   Number of Road Accidents |   Number of Road Accidents |   Persons killed |   Persons killed |
|-----------|--------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|------------------|------------------|
|           |                          |                       2016 |                       2017 |             2016 |             2017 |
| 1.        | Andhra Pradesh           |                      24888 |                      25727 |             8541 |             8060 |
| 2.        | Arunachal Pradesh        |                        249 |                        241 |              149 |              110 |
| 3.        | Assam                    |                       7435 |                       7170 |             2572 |             2783 |
| 4.        | Bihar                    |                       8222 |                       8855 |             4901 |             5554 |
| 5.        | Chhattisgarh             |                      13580 |                      13563 |             3908 |             4136 |
| 6.        | Goa                      |                       4304 |                       3917 |              336 |              328 |
| 7.        | Gujarat                  |                      21859 |                      19081 |             8136 |             7289 |
| 8.        | Haryana                  |                      11234 |                      11258 |             5024 |             5120 |
| 9.        | Himachal Pradesh         |                       3168 |                       3114 |             1271 |             1203 |
| 10.       | Jammu &Kashmir           |                       5501 |                       5624 |              958 |              926 |
| 11.       | Jharkhand                |                       4932 |                       5198 |             3027 |             3256 |
| 12.       | Karnataka                |                      44403 |                      42542 |            11133 |            10609 |
| 13.       | Kerala                   |                      39420 |                      38470 |             4287 |             4131 |
| 14.       | Madhya Pradesh           |                      53972 |                      53399 |             9646 |            10177 |
| 15.       | Maharashtra              |                      39878 |                      35853 |            12935 |            12264 |
| 16.       | Manipur                  |                        538 |                        578 |               81 |              136 |
| 17.       | Meghalaya                |                        620 |                        675 |              150 |              182 |
| 18.       | Mizoram                  |                         83 |                         68 |               70 |               60 |
| 19.       | Nagaland                 |                         75 |                        531 |               46 |               41 |
| 20.       | Odisha                   |                      10532 |                      10855 |             4463 |             4790 |
| 21.       | Punjab                   |                       6952 |                       6273 |             5077 |             4463 |
| 22.       | Rajasthan                |                      23066 |                      22112 |            10465 |            10444 |
| 23.       | Sikkim                   |                        210 |                        196 |               85 |               78 |
| 24.       | Tamil Nadu               |                      71431 |                      65562 |            17218 |            16157 |
| 25.       | Telangana                |                      22811 |                      22484 |             7219 |             6596 |
| 26.       | Tripura                  |                        557 |                        503 |              173 |              161 |
| 27.       | Uttarakhand              |                       1591 |                       1603 |              962 |              942 |
| 28.       | Uttar Pradesh            |                      35612 |                      38783 |            19320 |            20124 |
| 29.       | West Bengal              |                      13580 |                      11631 |             6544 |             5769 |
| 30.       | Andaman &Nicobar Islands |                        238 |                        189 |               17 |               21 |
| 31.       | Chandigarh               |                        428 |                        342 |              151 |              107 |
| 32.       | Dadra &Nagar Haveli      |                         70 |                         67 |               46 |               43 |
| 33.       | Daman &Diu               |                         71 |                         79 |               38 |               36 |
| 34.       | Delhi                    |                       7375 |                       6673 |             1591 |             1584 |
| 35.       | Lakshadweep              |                          1 |                          1 |                1 |                0 |
| 36.       | Puducherry               |                       1766 |                       1693 |              244 |              233 |
|           | Total                    |                     480652 |                     464910 |           150785 |           147913 |

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