Road safety: Gadkari urges parties to rise above petty politics

New Delhi, Feb 8: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday called upon all parties to rise above partisan politics and cooperate in clearing Road Transport and Safety Bill in Parliament.

If the law had been approved by Parliament, the deaths on Indian roads could have been lower, Mr Gadkari affirmed during Lok Sabha Question Hour.
Road accidents, he said, had decreased in 2016 compared to the previous year and could have been less. 
During 2014, 1,39,671 people died in 4,89,400 road mishaps; in 2015, total 1,46,133 in 5,01,423 accidents while 1,50,785 lives were lost in 2016 in 4,80,652 accidents.
He said Road and Transport ministry had taken a number of steps to prevent road accidents.
Government has approved a National Road Safety Policy outlining measures including promoting awareness, establishing road safety information database and encouraging safer road infrastructure, he said. 
The Ministry has constituted National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in the matters of road safety, the minister said, adding that all states/UTs have been requested to set up state road council and district road safety committees, and to hold meetings regularly.
The Ministry, Mr Gadkari said, had formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4 Es -- Education, Engineering (both roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency care. UNI