Lok Sabha Question No. 1124 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-05
Subject: Road Safety Improvements
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Bhola Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1124 ANSWERED ON- 5 TH  FEBRUARY, 2026

## ROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS

1124. DR. BHOLA SINGH:

Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of accident-prone black spots identified on National Highways in the country, and the number of such spots that have already undergone corrective measures, State-wise;
- (b)  the  mechanism  through  which  the  major  causes  of  accidents, such  as  design  flaws,  lack  of  signage,  poor  lighting  or  traffic management issues are identified;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  formulated  any  integrated  action plan  to  implement  engineering  improvements,  speed  management, digital surveillance and emergency medical response measures; and
- (d) if so, the details of the stipulated timelines, expenditure incurred and targets set for reduction in road accidents under the said plan?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

- (a) The details are placed at Annexure-I.
- (b) Road Safety Audit is carried out for the independent assessment of  newly  constructed  roads  before  opening  them  to  commercial traffic.  All  identified  road  safety  issues,  including  those  related  to road signage and markings, are addressed before the road is opened to  the  public.  Subsequently,  during  the  operation  of  the  project

highway, assessment is carried out at regular intervals to identify safety  issues  that  may  have  emerged  during  operation  stage  and any  necessary  remedial  measures  are  taken  in  a  time-bound manner. (c) Government has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the  issue  of  road  safety  based  on  4E's  i.e.  Education,  Engineering (both  of  roads  and  vehicles),  Enforcement  and  Emergency  Care. Accordingly, various initiatives have been taken for road safety in the Country as detailed at Annexure-II.

- (d)     Government in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is mandated  with  the  task  of  constructing  and  maintaining  National Highways in the Country. Road Safety is an integral and indispensable component of every National Highways Project. Road Safety initiatives on National Highways commence  with the inception of Detailed Project Report (DPR) as road safety audit of all National Highways projects has been made mandatory at all stages i.e.  design,  construction,  operation  &  maintenance  through  third party auditors/experts. As per available data, funds allocated to be spent for comprehensive road safety aspects varies from 2.21 % to 15  %  of  total  cost  of  the  development  projects  depending  upon structures involved for construction of National Highways.

Besides, the Government also implements the scheme for creation of  awareness & publicity among road users and provides financial support  to  Transport  Departments  of  States/UTs  for  setting  up  of Model  Driving Training Institutes/Centres, setting up of  Model Inspection & Certification Centres, improving and Strengthening of Public Transport System etc.

ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1124  FOR  05.02.2026  ASKED  BY  DR. BHOLA SINGH REGARDING ROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS.

| States/UTs               |   Blackspots |   Short-term Rectification Completed |   Long-term Rectification Completed |
|--------------------------|--------------|--------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| Gujarat                  |          386 |                                  386 |                                 168 |
| Odisha                   |          597 |                                  582 |                                 378 |
| Tamil Nadu               |         1661 |                                 1633 |                                 613 |
| Maharashtra              |          550 |                                  534 |                                 267 |
| West Bengal              |         1339 |                                 1322 |                                 803 |
| Delhi                    |          335 |                                  335 |                                 181 |
| Jharkhand                |          279 |                                  279 |                                 120 |
| Karnataka                |         1278 |                                 1220 |                                 701 |
| Kerala                   |          701 |                                  599 |                                 123 |
| Goa                      |           50 |                                   40 |                                  26 |
| Andhra Pradesh           |         1060 |                                  787 |                                 343 |
| Telangana                |         1535 |                                 1259 |                                 516 |
| Bihar                    |          306 |                                  291 |                                  64 |
| Assam                    |          285 |                                  252 |                                  77 |
| Mizoram                  |            1 |                                    1 |                                   1 |
| Meghalaya                |           56 |                                   36 |                                  23 |
| Nagaland                 |           71 |                                   50 |                                  64 |
| Sikkim                   |           16 |                                   16 |                                  16 |
| Manipur                  |           19 |                                   14 |                                  14 |
| Tripura                  |           29 |                                   21 |                                  12 |
| Arunachal Pradesh        |            9 |                                    9 |                                   0 |
| Uttarakhand              |          110 |                                  107 |                                  80 |
| Punjab                   |         1407 |                                 1112 |                                 463 |
| Haryana                  |          124 |                                  121 |                                  58 |
| Chandigarh               |            7 |                                    7 |                                   0 |
| Madhya Pradesh           |          596 |                                  590 |                                 225 |
| Uttar Pradesh            |         2210 |                                 1067 |                                 540 |
| UT of J&K & UT of Ladakh |          224 |                                  170 |                                  62 |
| Himachal                 |          232 |                                  232 |                                 199 |

| Pradesh           |     |     |     |
|-------------------|-----|-----|-----|
| Chhattisgarh      | 338 | 337 | 245 |
| Rajasthan         | 727 | 727 | 265 |
| Andaman & Nicobar |   4 |   2 |   2 |

ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1124  FOR  05.02.2026  ASKED  BY  DR. BHOLA SINGH REGARDING ROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS.

Details of various initiatives taken by the Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for road safety: -

(1) Education:

- i.  Administers  a  scheme  for  setting  up  of  Institutes  of  Driving Training  &  Research  (IDTRs),  Regional  Driving  Training  Centres (RDTCs) and Driving Training Centres (DTCs) at state/district level across the Country. Recently revised scheme guidelines have been issued, incorporating enhanced financial assistance and streamlined eligibility criteria for establishing Driving Training Institutes. Additionally, incentives have been introduced for setting up  Automated  Testing  Stations  (ATS)  in  conjunction  with  Driving Training Institutes (DTIs) under the Training-Testing Cluster approach.
- ii. Administers Road Safety Advocacy Scheme for raising awareness about road safety and for administering road safety programs.
- iii.  Observance  of  National  Road  Safety  Month  every  year  for spreading awareness and strengthening road safety.
- (2) Engineering:
5. 2.1. Road engineering:
- i. Road Safety Audit (RSA) of all National Highways (NHs) has been made mandatory through third party auditors/ experts at all stages i.e. design, construction, operation and maintenance etc.
- ii.  High  priority  is  accorded  to  identification  and  rectification  of black spots /accident spots on NHs.
- iii. Road Safety Officer (RSO) has been designated at each Regional Office of road owning agencies under the Ministry to look after RSA and other road safety related works.
- iv.  Administers  the  electronic  Detailed  Accident  Report  (e-DAR) Project to establish a central repository for reporting, management and analysis of road accidents data across the Country.
- v.  Issued  guidelines  for  the  provision  of  signages  on  Expressways and  National  Highways  to  offer  improved  visibility  and  intuitive guidance to the drivers.
- vi.  Provisions have been made in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for failure  to  comply  with  standards  for  the  road  design,  construction and  maintenance,  as  prescribed  by  the  Central  Government  from time to time.
12. 2.2 Vehicle engineering:

Various initiatives were undertaken to make vehicles safer, including the following: -

- i. Mandatory provision of an airbag for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.
- ii.  Prescribed norms related to safety measures for children below four years of age, riding or being carried on a motor cycle. It also specifies use of a safety harness, crash helmet and restricts speed to 40kmph.

iii. Mandatory  provisions  for  fitment  of  following  listed safety technologies: -

For M1 category vehicles:

- a. Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) for driver and co-driver.
- b. Manual Override for central locking system
- c. Over speed warning system.

For all M and N category vehicles:

- a. Reverse Parking Alert System

iv. Mandated Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) for certain classes of L [Motor vehicle with less than four  wheels  and  includes  a Quadricycle], M [Motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying  passengers]  and  N  [Motor  vehicles  with  at  least  four wheels  used  for  carrying  goods  which  may  also  carry  persons  in

- addition to goods, subject to conditions stipulated in BIS standards] categories.
- v.  Mandated  speed  limiting  function/speed  limiting  device  in  all transport vehicles, except for two wheelers, three wheelers, quadricycles, fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles.
- vi.  Published  the  rules  for  recognition,  regulation  and  control  of Automated Testing Stations, which define the procedure for fitness testing of vehicles through automated equipment and the procedure for grant of fitness certificate by ATSs. The rules have been further amended on 31.10.2022 and 14.03.2024.
- vii. Formulated the Vehicle Scrapping Policy based on incentives/dis-incentives  and  for  creating  an  ecosystem  to  phase out old, unfit and polluting vehicles.
- viii.  Formulated  a  Scheme  to  set  up  one  model  Inspection  & Certification  Centre  in  each  State/UT  with  Central  assistance  for testing the fitness of vehicles through an automated system.
- ix.  Published  rules  regarding  the  Bharat  New  Car  Assessment Program  (BNCAP)  to  introduce  the  concept  of  safety  rating  of passenger cars and empower consumers to take informed decisions.
- x.  Published  rules  regarding  prescribed  level  playing  field  in  the area of manufacturing of buses by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Bus Body Builders.
- xi. Mandated vehicles, manufactured on or after 1st October, 2025, shall  be  fitted  with  an  air-conditioning  system  for  the  cabin  of vehicles of N2 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 3.5  tonnes  but  not  exceeding  12.0  tonnes)  and  N3  (goods  vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 12.0 tonnes) category.
- xii. Published  rules for revision of standards  for Safety Belt, Restraint  Systems  and  Safety  Belt  Reminder  to  provide  provisions for  applicability  of  revised  standards  for  safety  belt  assemblies, safety  belt  anchorages  and  the  installation  of  Safety  Belts  and Restraint Systems, in Motor vehicles of category M,N and L7 w.e.f. 01st April, 2025. Further, the vehicles of category M1, manufactured on and after the 1st April 2025, shall meet the requirement of safety belt reminder for all front facing rear seats as per AIS-145-2018.

xiii. Published rules for Active safety features in Medium and Heavy Duty vehicles, which provide for Braking System including Anti-lock Braking,  Endurance  Braking  System  for  M2,  M3,  N1,  N2,  N3  and Quadricycle (effective for new models from 1st January, 2027 and for  existing  models  from  1st  October,  2027),  and  Advanced  Driver Assistance  Systems  (ADAS)  including  Vehicle  Stability  Function (VSF),  Lane  Departure  Warning  System  (LDWS),  Driver  Drowsiness and Attention Warning Systems, Blind Spot Information Systems and Moving off Information Systems for M2, M3, N2 and N3 categories of vehicles (effective for new models from 1st October, 2027 and for existing models from 1st January, 2028).

- (3) Enforcement:
- i. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 as stands implemented  provides  for  strict  penalties  for  ensuring  compliance and  enhancing  deterrence  for  violation  of  traffic  rules  and  strict enforcement  through  use  of  technology.  Traffic  management  and enforcement is essentially in the domain of State Governments/UT Administrations.  While  Central  Government  formulates  rules  under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, the enforcement of these rules comes under the purview of State Governments/UT Administrations.
- ii.  Issued  rules  for  Electronic  Monitoring  and  Enforcement of  Road Safety.  The  rules  specify  the  detailed  provisions  for  placement  of electronic enforcement devices on high risk & high density corridors on National Highways, State Highways and critical junctions cities having a population of more than one million in the country and cities under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

iii.  Government  has  issued  guidelines  for  incentive  to  States  for Implementation of Electronic Enforcement of Road Safety under the Scheme  for  Special  Assistance  to  States  for  Capital  Investment 2025-26 (SASCI 2025-26) with allocation of Rs. 3,000 Crore (on first

- come first serve basis).
- iv. On 10th June, 2024, the Government has issued an advisory to all the  States  and  Union  territories  on  technological  interventions  for ensuring compliance with Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.

(4) Emergency care: i.  Revised  the  scheme  guidelines  (named  as  Rah-Veer)  for  the protection  of  Good  Samaritan,  who  in  good  faith,  voluntarily  and without expectation of any reward or compensation renders emergency medical or non-medical care or assistance at the scene of  an  accident  to  the  victim  or  transports  such  victim  to  the hospital.  As  per  the  scheme,  the  reward  for  Rah-Veer  has  been increased to Rs. 25,000/- from Rs. 5,000/-. ii. Enhanced  compensation  of  victims of Hit and Run  motor accidents (from Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 50,000 for grievous hurt and from Rs. 25,000 to Rs.2,00,000 for death). iii. The National Highways Authority of India has made provisions for ambulances with paramedical staff/Emergency Medical Technician/Nurse  at  toll  plazas  on  the  completed  corridors  of National Highways. iv.  Government  in  Ministry  of  Road  Transport  and  Highways  has notified the Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme, 2025  on  5th  May,  2025.  The  detailed  guidelines  including  process flow,  stakeholder  wise  standard  operating  procedures  and  clearly delineated roles and responsibilities have also been notified on 4th June, 2025.

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