Parliament Question: Road Safety Audit on NHs

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3159 ANSWERED ON 7TH AUGUST, 2025 ROAD SAFETY AUDIT ON NHs 3159. SHRI P C MOHAN: Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री be pleased to state: (a) the total number of road accidents reported during the last three years, year-wise and State-wise with specific data for Karnataka and Bengaluru Urban; (b) the number of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from these accidents along with the major causes identified; (c) whether safety audits have been conducted on National Highways (NHs) and urban roads in high-accident zones and if so, the key findings thereof; (d) the steps taken to improve road safety including awareness campaigns, engineering interventions, enforcement of traffic rules and adoption of technology; (e) whether the Ministry is collaborating with State Governments and urban local bodies to implement the Road Safety Action Plan under India’s Road Safety Policy or the Brasilia Declaration; and (f) the targets, timelines, financial allocations set to reduce road fatalities in line with Vision Zero and the UNSDG 3.6? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI) (a) and (b) Based on the data received from States/ UTs, the details of total number of road accidents, fatalities and injuries on all categories of roads in the country, State/UT-wise from calendar year 2020 to 2022 are annexed as per Annexure – I, Annexure – II and Annexure – III, respectively. Further, total number of road accidents in Bengaluru City during the Calendar Year 2020 to 2022 is 3233, 3213 and 3822 respectively.As per data received from the States/UTs, road accidents are multi- causal phenomenon and are the result of interplay of various factors. These can broadly be categorized into (i) human error, (ii) road condition/environment and (iii) vehicular condition. (c) The Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is mandated with the task of constructing and maintaining National Highways in the Country. As on date, Road safety audit has been conducted in a length of 1,36,716 km since FY 2019-20. High priority is accorded to identification and rectification of black spots/accident spots on NHs. Rectification of black spots is a continuous process and temporary measures are taken on immediate basis. Short term remedial measures have been completed on 11,866 black-spots and long term remedial measures have been completed on 5324 black-spots. Long term rectification works include improvement of road geometrics, junction improvements, spot widening of carriageway, construction of underpasses/overpasses, etc. which involve pre-construction activities such as land acquisition, forest clearance & utility shifting which takes significant time. (d) Government has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4E's i.e. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. Accordingly, various initiatives have been taken for road safety in the country as detailed at Annexure-IV. (e) The National Road Safety Policy emphasizes to focus on raising awareness, establishing a comprehensive road safety information database, ensuring safer road infrastructure and vehicles, promoting safer driving practices, protecting vulnerable road users, enforcing traffic laws, and strengthening emergency medical services etc. These activities are broadly covered under the 4Es of Road Safety. In collaboration with State Governments, various initiatives have been implemented which are aimed at enhancing the safety of road users. The initiatives, inter-alia, include the following: i. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 enacted by the Parliament has strengthened the traffic laws in the country. While Central Government formulates rules under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, the enforcement of these rules comes under the purview of State Governments/UT Administrations. ii. The Government has established an electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) portal, a central repository for reporting, management and analysis of road accidents data to enhance road safety. eDAR provides data-based insights to the State agencies for formulation of policy measures and in strategic decisionmaking, enabling authorities to identify accident spots/blackspots through analytics and take preventive measures. (iii) The Government has developed portal for District Road Safety Committee to undertake review of road safety issues by the District Authorities. (iv) The Government has notified guidelines of Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme 2025 for providing cashless treatment to the victims of road accidents on all roads for 7 days upto a maximum amount of ₹1.5 lakh per accident per person. District level authorities have been assigned various responsibilities in implementation of the scheme. (v) The Government administers a scheme to set up state-of- the-art Driving Training Institutes (IDTRs, RDTCs, DTCs) in States/UTs to provide quality training to the driving license aspirants. State agencies play a key role in the implementation of this scheme (vi) The Government also administers the Rah-veer scheme for award to person(s) who has saved life of a victim of road crashes involving a motor vehicle by administering immediate assistance and rushing to Hospital/ Trauma Care Centre. The scheme is implemented through the respective State agencies. (vii) The Central Government has issued guidelines for incentive to States for Implementation of Electronic Enforcement of Road Safety under the Scheme of Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2025-26 (SASCI 2025-26) with allocation of Rs. 3,000 Crore. (viii) The Government in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has developed various web applications/portals such as Vahan, Sarathi m-Parivahan App which facilitate the States/UTs and citizen in the matters relating to Registration certificate and Driving Licence etc. (f) Stockholm Declaration on Road Safety, adopted at the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in February 2020, sets a new global target to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030. India is a signatory to the Stockholm Declaration. Road Safety is an integral and indispensable component of every National Highways Project. Road Safety initiatives on National Highways commence with the inception of Detailed Project Report (DPR) as road safety audit of all National Highways projects has been made mandatory at all stages i.e. design, construction, operation &maintenance through auditors/experts. As per available data, funds allocated to be spent for comprehensive road safety aspects varies from 2.21% to 15% of total cost of the development projects depending upon structures involved for construction of National Highways.Annexure – I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) and (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3159 ANSWERED ON 7TH AUGUST, 2025 ASKED BY SHRI P C MOHAN REGARDING ROAD SAFETY AUDIT ON NHs State-wise details of Road Accidents for the Calendar Year 2020 to 2022 S. No. States/UTs 2020 2021 2022 1 Andhra Pradesh 19,509 21,556 21,249 2 Arunachal Pradesh 134 283 227 3 Assam 6,595 7,411 7,023 4 Bihar 8,639 9,553 10,801 5 Chhattisgarh 11,656 12,375 13,279 6 Goa 2,375 2,849 3,011 7 Gujarat 13,398 15,186 15,751 8 Haryana 9,431 9,933 10,429 9 Himachal Pradesh 2,239 2,404 2,597 10 Jharkhand 4,405 4,728 5,175 11 Karnataka 34,178 34,647 39,762 12 Kerala 27,877 33,296 43,910 13 Madhya Pradesh 45,266 48,877 54,432 14 Maharashtra 24,971 29,477 33,383 15 Manipur 432 366 508 16 Meghalaya 214 245 246 17 Mizoram 53 69 133 18 Nagaland 500 746 489 19 Odisha 9,817 10,983 11,663 20 Punjab 5,203 5,871 6,138 21 Rajasthan 19,114 20,951 23,614 22 Sikkim 138 155 211 23 Tamil Nadu 49,844 55,682 64,105 24 Telangana 19,172 21,315 21,619 25 Tripura 466 479 575 26 Uttarakhand 1,041 1,405 1,674 27 Uttar Pradesh 34,243 37,729 41,746 28 West Bengal 10,863 11,937 13,686 29 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 141 115 141 30 Chandigarh 159 208 237 31 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 100 140 196 32 Delhi 4,178 4,720 5,652 33 Jammu & Kashmir $ 4,860 5,452 6,092 34 Ladakh 236 374 35 Lakshadweep 1 4 3 36 Puducherry 969 1,049 1,181 4,12,434,61,31 Total (All India) 3,72,181 2 2 Note: $ Includes data of Ladakh for the Year 2020.Annexure – II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) and (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3159 ANSWERED ON 7TH AUGUST, 2025 ASKED BY SHRI P C MOHAN REGARDING ROAD SAFETY AUDIT ON NHs State-wise details of Road Accident Fatalities for the Calendar Year 2020 to 2022 - S. No. States/UTs 2020 2021 2022 1 Andhra Pradesh 7,039 8,186 8,293 2 Arunachal Pradesh 73 157 148 3 Assam 2,629 3,036 2,994 4 Bihar 6,699 7,660 8,898 5 Chhattisgarh 4,606 5,371 5,834 6 Goa 223 226 271 7 Gujarat 6,170 7,452 7,618 8 Haryana 4,507 4,706 4,915 9 Himachal Pradesh 893 1,052 1,032 10 Jharkhand 3,044 3,513 3,898 11 Karnataka 9,760 10,038 11,702 12 Kerala 2,979 3,429 4,317 13 Madhya Pradesh 11,141 12,057 13,427 14 Maharashtra 11,569 13,528 15,224 15 Manipur 127 110 127 16 Meghalaya 144 187 162 17 Mizoram 42 56 113 18 Nagaland 53 55 73 19 Odisha 4,738 5,081 5,467 20 Punjab 3,898 4,589 4,756 21 Rajasthan 9,250 10,043 11,104 22 Sikkim 47 56 92 23 Tamil Nadu 14,527 15,384 17,884 24 Telangana 6,882 7,557 7,559 25 Tripura 192 194 241 26 Uttarakhand 674 820 1,042 27 Uttar Pradesh 19,149 21,227 22,595 28 West Bengal 5,128 5,800 6,002 29 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 14 20 19 30 Chandigarh 53 96 83 31 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 64 76 90 32 Delhi 1,196 1,239 1,461 33 Jammu & Kashmir $ 728 774 805 34 Ladakh 56 62 35 Lakshadweep 0 1 2 36 Puducherry 145 140 181 Total (all India) 1,38,383 1,53,972 1,68,491 Note: $ Includes data of Ladakh for the Year 2020.Annexure – III ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) and (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3159 ANSWERED ON 7TH AUGUST, 2025 ASKED BY SHRI P C MOHAN REGARDING ROAD SAFETY AUDIT ON NHs State-wise details of Road Accident Injuries for the Calendar Year 2020 to 2022 S. No. State 2020 2021 2022 1 Andhra Pradesh 19675 21040 21340 2 Arunachal Pradesh 185 347 186 3 Assam 5269 5763 5637 4 Bihar 7016 7946 7068 5 Chhattisgarh 10505 10683 11695 6 Goa 880 843 1091 7 Gujarat 12002 13690 15089 8 Haryana 7659 8121 8519 9 Himachal Pradesh 3223 3454 4063 10 Jharkhand 3295 3227 3747 11 Karnataka 39492 40754 48154 12 Kerala 30510 36775 49307 13 Madhya Pradesh 46456 48956 55168 14 Maharashtra 19914 23071 27239 15 Manipur 663 504 817 16 Meghalaya 220 263 310 17 Mizoram 68 65 107 18 Nagaland 286 380 291 19 Odisha 8822 9782 10302 20 Punjab 2904 3072 3324 21 Rajasthan 16769 19344 22293 22 Sikkim 218 244 354 23 Tamil Nadu 47618 55996 67703 24 Telangana 18661 20107 20209 25 Tripura 470 547 541 26 Uttarakhand 854 1091 1613 27 Uttar Pradesh 22410 24897 28541 28 West Bengal 9715 10454 12843 29 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 145 97 136 30 Chandigarh 148 172 203 31 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 119 171 273 32 Delhi 3662 4273 5201 33 Jammu & Kashmir $ 5894 6972 8372 34 Ladakh 242 346 35 Lakshadweep 1 6 2 36 Puducherry 1019 1099 1282 Total 3,46,747 3,84,448 4,43,366 Note: $ Includes data of Ladakh for the Year 2020.Annexure – IV ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3159 ANSWERED ON 7TH AUGUST, 2025 ASKED BY SHRI P C MOHAN REGARDING ROAD SAFETY AUDIT ON NHs Details of various initiatives taken by the Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for road safety : - (1) Education: i. Administers a scheme for setting up of Institutes of Driving Training & Research (IDTRs), Regional Driving Training Centres (RDTCs) and Driving Training Centres (DTCs) at state/district level across the Country. Recently revised scheme guidelines have been issued, incorporating enhanced financial assistance and streamlined eligibility criteria for establishing Driving Training Institutes. Additionally, incentives have been introduced for setting up Automated Testing Stations (ATS) in conjunction with Driving Training Institutes (DTIs) under the Training-Testing Cluster approach. ii. Administers Road Safety Advocacy Scheme for raising awareness about road safety and for administering road safety programs. iii. Observance of National Road Safety Month every year for spreading awareness and strengthening road safety. iv. Prepared Concept Note and Road Map for involvement of volunteers under Sadak Suraksha Mitra for Road Safety related works. (2) Engineering : 2.1. Road engineering: i. Road Safety Audit (RSA) of all National Highways (NHs) has been made mandatory through third party auditors/ experts at all stages i.e. design, construction, operation and maintenance etc. ii. High priority is accorded to identification and rectification of black spots /accident spots on NHs. iii. Road Safety Officer (RSO) has been designated at each Regional Office of road owning agencies under the Ministry to look after RSA and other road safety related works. iv. Administers the electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) Project to establish a central repository for reporting, management and analysis of road accidents data across the Country. v. Issued guidelines for the provision of signages on Expressways and National Highways to offer improved visibility and intuitive guidance to the drivers.vi. Provisions have been made in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for failure to comply with standards for the road design, construction and maintenance, as prescribed by the Central Government from time to time. 2.2 Vehicle engineering: Various initiatives were undertaken to make vehicles safer, including the following:- i. Mandatory provision of an airbag for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver. ii. Prescribed norms related to safety measures for children below four years of age, riding or being carried on a motor cycle. It also specifies use of a safety harness, crash helmet and restricts speed to 40kmph. iii. Mandatory provisions for fitment of following listed safety technologies: - For M1 category vehicles:  Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) for driver and co-driver.  Manual Override for central locking system  Over speed warning system. For all M and N category vehicles:  Reverse Parking Alert System iv. Mandated Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) for certain classes of L [Motor vehicle with less than four wheels and includes a Quadricycle], M [Motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying passengers] and N [Motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying goods which may also carry persons in addition to goods, subject to conditions stipulated in BIS standards] categories. v. Mandated speed limiting function/speed limiting device in all transport vehicles, except for two wheelers, three wheelers, quadricycles, fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles. vi. Published the rules for recognition, regulation and control of Automated Testing Stations, which define the procedure for fitness testing of vehicles through automated equipment and the procedure for grant of fitness certificate by ATSs. The rules have been further amended on 31.10.2022 and 14.03.2024. vii. Formulated the Vehicle Scrapping Policy based on incentives/dis- incentives and for creating an ecosystem to phase out old, unfit and polluting vehicles.viii. Formulated a Scheme to set up one model Inspection & Certification Centre in each State/UT with Central assistance for testing the fitness of vehicles through an automated system. ix. Published rules regarding the Bharat New Car Assessment Program (BNCAP) to introduce the concept of safety rating of passenger cars and empower consumers to take informed decisions. x. Published rules regarding prescribed level playing field in the area of manufacturing of buses by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Bus Body Builders. xi. Mandated vehicles, manufactured on or after 1st October, 2025, shall be fitted with an air-conditioning system for the cabin of vehicles of N2 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 12.0 tonnes) and N3 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 12.0 tonnes) category. xii. Published rules for revision of standards for Safety Belt, Restraint Systems and Safety Belt Reminder to provide provisions for applicability of revised standards for safety belt assemblies, safety belt anchorages and the installation of Safety Belts and Restraint Systems, in Motor vehicles of category M,N and L7 w.e.f. 01st April, 2025. Further, the vehicles of category M1, manufactured on and after the 1st April 2025, shall meet the requirement of safety belt reminder for all front facing rear seats as per AIS-145-2018. (3) Enforcement: i. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 as stands implemented provides for strict penalties for ensuring compliance and enhancing deterrence for violation of traffic rules and strict enforcement through use of technology. Traffic management and enforcement is essentially in the domain of State Governments/UT Administrations. While Central Government formulates rules under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, the enforcement of these rules comes under the purview of State Governments/UT Administrations. ii. Issued rules for Electronic Monitoring and Enforcement of Road Safety. The rules specify the detailed provisions for placement of electronic enforcement devices on high risk & high density corridors on National Highways, State Highways and critical junctions cities having a population of more than one million in the country and cities under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). iii. Government has issued guidelines for incentive to States for Implementation of Electronic Enforcement of Road Safety under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2025- 26 (SASCI 2025-26) with allocation of Rs. 3,000 Crore (on first come first serve basis).iv. On 10th June, 2024, the Government has issued an advisory to all the States and Union territories on technological interventions for ensuring compliance with Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. (4) Emergency care: i. Revised the scheme guidelines (named as Rah-Veer) for the protection of Good Samaritan, who in good faith, voluntarily and without expectation of any reward or compensation renders emergency medical or non-medical care or assistance at the scene of an accident to the victim or transports such victim to the hospital. As per the scheme, the reward for Rah-Veer has been increased to Rs. 25,000/- from Rs. 5,000/-. ii. Enhanced compensation of victims of Hit and Run motor accidents (from Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 50,000 for grievous hurt and from Rs. 25,000 to Rs.2,00,000 for death). iii. The National Highways Authority of India has made provisions for ambulances with paramedical staff/Emergency Medical Technician/Nurse at toll plazas on the completed corridors of National Highways. iv. Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified the Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme, 2025 on 5th May, 2025. The detailed guidelines including process flow, stakeholder wise standard operating procedures and clearly delineated roles and responsibilities have also been notified on 4th June, 2025. *****