Lok Sabha Question No. 5279 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-25
Subject: Accidental Death on NHs
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: M V V Satyanarayana, Chandeshwar Prasad, Karti P. Chidambaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT & HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO. 5279

ANSWERED ON 25 TH  JULY, 2019

## ACCIDENTAL DEATH ON NHs

5279.   SHRI M.V.V. SATYANARAYANA: SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD: SHRI KARTI P. CHIDAMBARAM:

## Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  taken  note  of  the  increasing  number  of  accidents/accidental deaths on various National Highways (NHs)/Expressways in the country and if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (b) the  number  of  persons  killed  in  road  accidents  during  the  last  three  years  in  the  country, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether any scheme for financial assistance is available for the victims of road accidents and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) if  not,  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  bring  any  legislation  for  rendering  financial assistance to the victims of road accidents and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether causes of higher number of deaths on certain sections/NHs have been ascertained by the Government and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  safety  and  provide  emergency  medical services on the highways?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

(a) As per information received from police department of all States/UTs, t he total number of road accidents  and  persons  killed  on  National  Highways  (including  expressways)  in  the  country  for  the calendar years i.e 2015 to 2017 is given in the table below:-

|   Years | Total Number of accidents on National Highways/Expressway in the country   | Total Number of persons killed on National Highways/Expressway in the country   |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    2015 | 1,42,268                                                                   | 51,204                                                                          |
|    2016 | 1,42,359                                                                   | 52,075                                                                          |
|    2017 | 1,41,466                                                                   | 53,181                                                                          |

(b)  State-wise total number of persons killed in road accidents in the country for the calendar years 2015 to 2017is at Annexure .

(c) & (d) The provisions relating to compensation for the road accident victims and their kith and kin are uniform across the country and provided in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Chapter  X  and  XI  of  the  Motor  Vehicles  Act,  1988  deal  with  third-party  insurance  and payment of compensation in case of injury or death. The provisions provided in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 relating to compensation for the road accident victims are uniform across the country. The Ministry has reviewed the compensation amount and substituted Schedule-II of the Motor Vehicles Act,  1988  relating  to  compensation  amount  under  section  163Avide  notification  S.O.  No.2022(E) dated 22 nd May, 2018. As per the revised Schedule - II, compensation for:-

- (i)       Fatal Accidents:

Compensation payable in case of Death shall be five lakh rupees.

- (ii)       Accidents resulting in permanent disability: Compensation payable shall be = [Rs.5,00,000/- X percentage disability as per Schedule I of the Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 (8 of 1923). The minimum compensation in case of permanent disability of any kind shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees.
- (iii)    Accidents resulting in minor injury: A fixed compensation of twenty five thousand rupees shall be payable

Further,  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.  Subsection (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 of Road Transport & Highways has inserted a provision in Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which inter-alia envisages the creation of a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.

(e)        The  Ministry  analyses  the  road  accidents  data  received  from  the  Police  Department  of  the States/UTs  and  public  the  report  'Road  Accidents  in  India'  annually.    As  per  the  report,  Road accidents occur due to multiple causes such as use of Mobile phone, drunken driving/consumption of alcohol/ drug, overloaded Vehicle, poor light condition, jumping red light, over speeding, overtaking, neglect  of  civic  bodies,  weather  condition,  fault  of  driver,  driving  on  wrong  side,  defect  in  road condition, defect in condition of motor vehicle, fault of cyclist, fault of pedestrian etc.

(f)   The National Road Safety 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.  The  Ministry  has  taken  number  of steps to address the issue of road safety. These based on Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles),  Enforcement  and  Emergency  Care.  The  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.

In  addition  to  the  above,  the  initiatives  of  the  Ministry  to  promote  road  safety  are  listed  as below:

- (i) Advocacy/Publicity  campaign  on  road  safety  through  the  electronic  media  and  print media to create awareness.
- (ii) Issue of Guidelines for protection of Good Samaritans.
- (iii) Setting up of model driving training Institutes in States.
- (iv) Sanction  of  22  Inspection  and  certification  Centres  for  testing  the  fitness  of  the commercial vehicles through an automated system
- (v) Launch  of  mobile  app  for  highway  users  i.e.  'Sukhad  Yatra  1033'  which  enables highways  users  to  report  potholes  and  other  safety  hazards  on  National  Highways including accidents.
- (vi) Observance  of  Road  Safety  Week  every  calendar  year  for  spreading  awareness  and strengthening road safety.
- (vii) Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.
- (viii) The  threshold  for  four  laning  of  national  highway  has  been  reduced  from  15,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) to 10,000 PCUs.
- (ix) Safety standards for automobiles have been improved.
- (x) High  priority  has  been  accorded  to  identification  and  rectification  of  black  spots (accident prone spots) on national highways.
- (xi) 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.
- (xii) Guidelines for pedestrian facilities on National Highways for persons with disabilities have also been issued to all States / UTs.
- (xiii) A  Certification  Course  for  Road  Safety  Auditors  has  been  commenced  in  Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) and 42 Auditors are certified.
- (xiv) Free  Eye  Check-up  Camp  and  distribution  of  eye  glasses  is  conducted  for  truck/bus drivers operating on NH.
- (xv) Removal of Liquor Shops as per directions of Hon'ble Supreme Court vide circular of F. No. RW/NH-33044/309/2016/S&R dated 06-04-2017 and 01-06-2017.

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5279  TO  BE  ANSWERED ON 25 th   JULY,  2019  ASKED  BY  SHRI  M.V.V.  SATYANARAYANA,  SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD AND SHRI KARTI P. CHIDAMBARAM  REGARDING  ACCIDENTAL DEATH ON NHs.

Total  Number  of  Persons killed in Road Accidents in India:  2015  to 2017

| S.No   | State/UTs                |   2015 |   2016 |   2017 |
|--------|--------------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh           |   8297 |   8541 |   8060 |
| 2      | Arunachal Pradesh        |    127 |    149 |    110 |
| 3      | Assam                    |   2397 |   2572 |   2783 |
| 4      | Bihar                    |   5421 |   4901 |   5554 |
| 5      | Chhattisgarh             |   4082 |   3908 |   4136 |
| 6      | Goa                      |    311 |    336 |    328 |
| 7      | Gujarat                  |   8119 |   8136 |   7289 |
| 8      | Haryana                  |   4879 |   5024 |   5120 |
| 9      | Himachal Pradesh         |   1096 |   1271 |   1203 |
| 10     | Jammu &Kashmir           |    917 |    958 |    926 |
| 11     | Jharkhand                |   2893 |   3027 |   3256 |
| 12     | Karnataka                |  10856 |  11133 |  10609 |
| 13     | Kerala                   |   4196 |   4287 |   4131 |
| 14     | Madhya Pradesh           |   9314 |   9646 |  10177 |
| 15     | Maharashtra              |  13212 |  12935 |  12264 |
| 16     | Manipur                  |    139 |     81 |    136 |
| 17     | Meghalaya                |    183 |    150 |    182 |
| 18     | Mizoram                  |     72 |     70 |     60 |
| 19     | Nagaland                 |     30 |     46 |     41 |
| 20     | Odisha                   |   4303 |   4463 |   4790 |
| 21     | Punjab                   |   4893 |   5077 |   4463 |
| 22     | Rajasthan                |  10510 |  10465 |  10444 |
| 23     | Sikkim                   |     70 |     85 |     78 |
| 24     | Tamil Nadu               |  15642 |  17218 |  16157 |
| 25     | Telangana                |   7110 |   7219 |   6596 |
| 26     | Tripura                  |    158 |    173 |    161 |
| 27     | Uttarakhand              |    913 |    962 |    942 |
| 28     | Uttar Pradesh            |  17666 |  19320 |  20124 |
| 29     | West Bengal              |   6234 |   6544 |   5769 |
| 30     | Andaman &Nicobar Islands |     23 |     17 |     21 |
| 31     | Chandigarh               |    129 |    151 |    107 |
| 32     | Dadra &Nagar Haveli      |     42 |     46 |     43 |
| 33     | Daman &Diu               |     42 |     38 |     36 |
| 34     | Delhi                    |   1622 |   1591 |   1584 |
| 35     | Lakshadweep              |      0 |      1 |      0 |
| 36     | Puducherry               |    235 |    244 |    233 |
| Total  | Total                    | 146133 | 150785 | 147913 |

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