Make road safety national priority: memorandum

Seeking to make road safety a national priority, a memorandum addressed to the president and the prime minister was signed at an event in New Delhi today.

The initiative by Consumer Voice, a Delhi-based non-profit group, focused on the need to amend the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 to address the change in road safety scenario in India.

"The participants of the workshop signed a memorandum to prime minister, vice president, president and chief justice of India to make road safety a national priority, according to a statement by the organisers.

"We have, therefore, brought together survivors of horrific road crashes and their families to tell their tales along with civil society organizations to join together in our appeal," Ashim Sanyal, chief operating officer of Consumer VOICE, said.

The initiative was supported by MPs Sanjay Jaiswal and Parvesh Verma, and Abhay Damle, joint secreary in transport ministry.