Govt works on assistance for crash victims on all highways
Two-wheelers and cars contribute half of total accidents in the country. Besides road engineering issues, most accidents are caused by driver fault. Road crashes cost around 1-3% of a country’s GDP, according to MoRTH.
New Delhi: India—home to the world’s deadliest roads—plans to extend its marquee Incident Management Services (IMS) to all national highways to reduce road fatalities and improve safety for road users.
The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) plans to seek request for proposals (RFPs) from companies to supply, operate and maintain IMS on national highways. As part of this initiative, highways would be equipped with ambulances, cranes, round-the-clock patrol vehicles and skilled workers capable of providing quick post-crash response, critical in saving lives of accident victims.
Indian roads are among the most dangerous globally. Road accidents claimed 156,000 lives in 2021—or 457 lives per day, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. National highways have emerged as one of the biggest killers, accounting for more than 40% of road accidents every year.
As per official estimates, Indian roads report one accident every minute, and one fatal accident every four minute. There are as many as 35 accidents per 1,000 vehicles and often delays in providing post-accident relief results in loss of life. The ministry has sought comments on the draft RFP, which will be followed by more deliberations before the service is finalized and rolled out across states in this fiscal year, an office memorandum issued by MoRTH said.
Under IMS, a maximum response time of 30 minutes would be set for ambulances, cranes, etc., to reach accident sites. This would be further reduced by integrating the central helpline for highways.
However, ambulances alone are grossly ineffective in initiating a post-crash response as the victims are more than often trapped inside crashed vehicles and need to be extricated with professional powered tools to ensure prompt emergency care. The IMS would be required to provide for standardized gas cutters, hydraulic rescue tools, route patrol cars and small/medium cranes along with hydraulic towing arm and road clearing equipment staffed with trained manpower.
Specifications for ambulances, patrol cars and rescue cranes are proposed to be standardized to remove ambiguity and ensure uniformity. Also, patrol cars and ambulances would function in sync as a crash rescue unit and their operations would be integrated.
Two-wheelers and cars contribute half of total accidents in the country. Besides road engineering issues, most accidents are caused by driver fault. Road crashes cost around 1-3% of a country’s GDP, according to MoRTH.
The new system is to be incorporated across national and state highways. This would allow Indian road networks to have a dedicated IMS at an interval of few kms, equipped with men and machinery required to provide quick relief to accident victims. In addition, effective patrolling by these system providers is aimed at ensuring that the tally of road accidents is reduced and fatalities checked.
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First Published:15 Apr 2023, 01:13 AM IST
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