Pinnacle court panel delivered to probe all mass fatality road crashes, nail cause

23-05-2022

The Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety has directed states to confirm that forensic crash investigations are conducted of all “mass fatality crashes” in each district to detect the precise reason for the mishaps.

In India, hardly any fatal road crash is investigated thoroughly to spot the fault of road engineering, signage and other aspects. Most of the time, police put the blame on drivers and speeding supported eyewitness accounts. 

The panel founded to observe road crashes and to guide the Centre and states to scale back fatal accidents has also asked all states to plan the deployment of various forms of ambulances as per the historic caseload of road crashes in districts. 

It has asked them to place in situ a mechanism of linkage between hospitals and ambulances by fitting a notification system in order that the injured may be rushed to the closest hospital that has the requisite facilities for providing treatment.

According to government estimates, nearly 50% of the injured in road crashes will be saved, if they're rushed to a hospital within the primary hour of the accident. 

On a median, 1.5 lakh people lose lives and around five lakh are left injured annually in accidents on Indian roads. Quick transfer of the injured persons to hospitals also increases the possibility of their recovery. 

The panel has also asked the states to begin publishing the monthly road crash data publically domain and to own district-wise websites for this purpose.

Currently, there's no such mechanism and therefore the home and transport ministry publish annual road crash data.