Road safety experts ask Centre for safe transit for migrants

GUWAHATI: National Road Safety Network - a coalition of leading road safety experts and organisations from across the country - on Sunday urged the Union home secretary to ensure a safe transit of migrants during the national lockdown.
As part of the Road Safety Network, the Consumers' Legal Protection Forum (CLPF), Assam, and Consumer VOICE, New Delhi, have been maintaining a "road crash tracker" to document road crash deaths and traffic violations during the lockdown from March 24 to date. The monitoring mechanism has revealed that so far, 1,176 road crashes with 321 fatalities have been documented.
In a letter to the Union home secretary, the experts welcomed the decision of the Centre to run special trains and buses for ferrying migrants, students and stranded tourists to their hometowns, but they expressed concern about the safety of drivers and passengers who were travelling by road. Media reports have indicated that driver fatigue, combined with speeding, has been responsible for the recent crashes, a statement issued by the CLPF- Assam, said. Road crashes kill about 1.5 lakh people in India every year and it continues to wreak havoc even during the national lockdown.
"We have submitted a list of 15 recommendations to ensure the safety of migrants travelling on road. The recommendations are aimed at mitigating specific risk factors such as speeding, driving while fatigued, overcrowding, etc. Some of the recommendations are specifically towards the safety of migrant workers returning home" said, Ashim Sanyal, COO at Consumer VOICE.
The Road Safety Network has shared a set of safety protocols, including temporary lanes for cyclists and pedestrians on highways, thorough briefing to bus drivers with respect to emergency protocols, identifying rest areas where food and water can be provided to travellers, engaging drivers well-trained in long-distance driving and familiar with particular terrains.
Advocate Ajoy Hazarika, secretary of CLPF, Assam, said, "Assam is at the 18th position in terms of accident-related deaths across states in 2018. We hope through proper implementation of MVA Act it will come down soon."