In a major move to improve road safety in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will now personally oversee the Government's road-safety initiatives. This decision comes amid the Government's bid to further improve the safety standards of the city given how many families are ruined because of road fatalities every year.
In addition to this, the Delhi Government has also announced that it will be tightening the enforcement of traffic norms and taking strict action against violators. With these measures, the Government aims to reduce the number of accidents on Delhi's roads and improve the safety of its citizens.
Kejriwal on Tuesday held a meeting to take stock of road safety measures in the national Capital.
The meeting was attended by Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, Transport Commissioner Ashish Kundra, and an IIT expert.
The CM took stock of various projects and proposals during the meeting including diversion of compounding fees towards the Road Safety Fund and setting up of safe school zones.
The CM reviewed road accident data of Delhi, highlighting his concerns about overspeeding on city's roads.
He also discussed the Bus Lane Initiative by the Enforcement branch of the Transport Department, road improvement projects and the strengthening of the golden hour treatment mechanism.
The CM began the meeting with assessment of road accident data of Delhi. He was apprised by the officials that the government has identified that 47 per cent of the accidents take place on National and State roads whereas, this road network accounts for only 10 per cent of the city's roads.
As per the data, overspeeding is among the most major reasons behind accidents as commuters tend to drive faster on wider roads. High-risk locations for such accidents are often road sections passing through pedestrian-heavy areas such as schools, metro stations, and commercial areas.
The Delhi Government had recently conducted a study with the John Hopkins University's International Injury Prevention Unit & CSIR's Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) to study road safety practices.