ROAD SAFETY:Advocates Urges PSC Recommendations Made for Further Strengthening of Bill

By Tricitynews Reporter

Chandigarh 30^th Sept:- Leading NGOs working on road safety across India came together in the national capital to discuss the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016.

The Bill, which was introduced in the Parliament on August 9, 2016, by Union Transport Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari, aims to fill the gaps in the legislative framework that governs road safety in the country by amending the 28-year-old Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (MVA).On August 16, the Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Transport, Tourism and Culture for its review and recommendations.

During the two-day conference held in New Delhi, the organizations expressed appreciation for the Government’s commitment to introduce a strong road safety legislation in the Parliament, while urging that the Bill be further strengthened and passed in the winter session without delay. The NGOs discussed the provisions of the Bill and arrived at a unanimous view that the Bill is a significant step forward, while also highlighting specific policy gaps that still needed to be addressed.

Piyush Tewari, Founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation said that as road safety advocates, we welcome the introduction of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016. The Bill addresses various crucial safety elements such as child safety, improvements in driver licensing system, provision for electronic enforcement, and rationalization of penalties for various life-threatening offences.The provisions related to globally recognised road safety risk factors should be further strengthened in the bill. We urge the standing committee to address these gaps and submit its report at the earliest so that the Bill can be passed in the winter session.

The organisations that participated in the conference included Consumer Voice (Delhi), Centre for Road Safety-Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice (Jaipur), Citizen Consumer and civic Action Group (Chennai), CUTS International (Jaipur), Institute of Public Health (Bengaluru), Parisar (Pune), and Save Life Foundation (Delhi).

During the discussion, the group strongly urged the PSC to comprehensively address safety of children during commute. Ashim Sanyal, Consumer Voice, a Delhi based non-profit, said that in its report to the Parliament, PSC should recommend inclusion of mandatory use of child restraint systems in line with recognised safety standards, as well as provisions to ensure appropriate headgears for children under 4 years of age on two-wheelers in order to protect millions of children who use roads every day in India.

International experts on road safety from the Global Road Safety Partnership,a hosted project of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which participated in the conference, supported the Government of India's recent efforts to improve the country's road safety legislation.

Dave Elseroad from the GRSP, stated that while the immediate passage of the amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act is an important step, sustained political support for its implementation and enforcement is vital to reduce road crash fatalities and serious injuries in India.

Given that over 13 lakh people have been killed in road accidents in India in the past decade, of which 1.46 lakh people were killed in 2015 alone, this Bill with key provisions further strengthened will prove to be critical in addressing this epidemic. This is a crucial step towards achieving the target to reduce road crash fatalities by 50% by 2020 as committed by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways at the Brasilia Conference on Road Safety in 2015.