Accident Victims Appeal to PM Modi For Stringent Law on Road Safety

New Delhi: Victims of road accidents and their families today marched up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office in order to appeal to help push a new and stringent law to enforce road safety, not only for those using motorised transport but also pedestrians. The legislation, called the Road Transport and Safety bill, is in a draft stage and has to be placed before the cabinet before introducing it in parliament.

Several citizens led by Save Life foundation and Change.org today delivered a petition signed by more than 2 lakh people.

Among the group was Jyoti Gupta and her infant daughter. Ms Gupta's husband and her 3-year-old daughter were killed in April this year when a Haryana Roadways bus ran over them in Gurgaon. Jyoti managed to save herself and her second daughter by jumping into a thorny bush. The driver of the bus was apparently speeding but is currently out on bail.
"The fact is that the bus driver who drove over my husband and daughter was not worried about any consequences from the law," says Ms Gupta as she tightly held on to her infant daughter in her arms.

The proposed bill seeks to establish a new 'National Road Safety Authority' that will look into all aspects of safety ranging from road design, maintenance to safety concerns with vehicles. The law, if passed in its current form, will empower the new authority to order a recall of vehicles which may be defective or have safety issues. Getting licenses will also be more streamlined with the entire process going online to ensure that errant drivers do not get licenses from other states in case their licenses have been impounded or cancelled by police in one state.

In the last 10 years, more than 1.2 million people have lost their lives in road-related accidents in India. Six months ago, Union Minister Gopinath Munde was killed in a car crash in the capital. Sources in the Transport ministry say that the government is keen to bring the new legislation in this session of Parliament. If that happens, then this bill would bode well for ensuring better road safety.

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