Need a strong road safety legislation: MPs to PM

Concerned over about 400 deaths in road crashes every day, a group of parliamentarians today sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for urgent introduction of a strong road safety legislation in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament.
"We write to request your urgent intervention in the introduction of a strong road safety bill in Parliament...It is important to note that road accidents in India are responsible for about 400 deaths every day and cause an economic loss of Rs 3.8 lakh crore," seventeen MPs cutting across party lines said in a letter to the Prime Minister.
The MPs requested the Prime Minister to consider bifurcating Road Safety Bill into two Bills, one on the road safety and traffic management with wider agreement and the other on transportation reforms, taxation and other issues.

The signatories include five Congress MPs, besides MPs from other political parties.
Meanwhile, SaveLIFE Foundation in a statement quoted Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as saying, "This government's assurances regarding introducing comprehensive road safety legislation remain to be acted upon."
"As an Indian MP and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, I am dismayed at how poorly we fare on road safety by global standards, which also dents our country's image worldwide. While many other developing countries including China have taken swift action to bring down the number of deaths in road crashes, India still lags behind," Tharoor, the first signatory, said.

At present, the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which governs road transport in India, is an archaic legislation that has failed to address the prevailing systemic challenges that make Indian roads the unsafe.

Baijayant 'Jay' Panda of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), said, "I signed a letter to the Prime Minister in December last year as well, and a commitment was made by him for swift action. The frequency of road crashes is increasing, and the number of daily fatalities now stands at 400, with over 70 per cent of the fatalities falling in the most productive age group of 15 to 44."

According to official data, over 16 people are killed every hour in India due to road crashes.
The annual economic loss suffered by the country due to this issue alone stands at 3 per cent of our GDP or seven times the budget of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the nodal agency for ensuring road safety in India.