Comprehensive List Of Road Safety Suggestions

Black color should not be permitted for Cycles. Default color for cycles should be changed to yellow.

Tamper proof speed controllers should be made mandatory for all heavy vehicles. New heavy vehicles should have built in tamper proof speed controllers.

Two wheeler manufacturers should be asked to design two wheelers with a designed maximum possible speed of 50/60 kilometer per hour. This limit may be decided based on the conditions of each country.

Day light like lighting should be provided in important roads, especially in roads with two way traffic and in roads without medians, so that head light or high beam can be avoided and a lot of accidents caused by high beam of vehicles coming from opposite direction can be avoided.

Refreshment parlors should be made available at every 50 / 100 kilometer on all highways and important roads. Truck, Heavy vehicle drivers should be forced to refresh by having a face wash or by having a cup of tea or coffee.

New gadgets are to be developed for collision prevention and should be fitted on all vehicles. Research organizations should be asked to develop such gadgets on a war footing. For example, gadgets can be developed to automatically slow down the vehicle, if safe distance commensurate with the speed of the vehicle in front is not maintained. Low cost Anti drowsy gadgets can be developed for warning the driver, when the driver begins to sleep.

Most important method to bring down accidents is strict enforcement of speed limits. Majority of accidents can be avoided by strict enforcement of speed limits. Instructions shall be issued to law enforcing authorities for strict enforcement of speed limits in all roads.

Helmet should be made compulsory by law in all states. Helmet should be made compulsory for back seat riders also.

Helmets should be distributed compulsorily with the sale of each two wheeler. Annexure-C Page 2 of 7

Ensure that all Helmet users are fixing the Chin strap of Helmet. Otherwise it will not help during an accident.

Ensure that only good quality Helmets that meet standard specifications are available in the market.

The practice of keeping the traffic signals in standby mode during nights and on holidays is to be reviewed and discontinued.

Black vehicles are more likely to be involved in accidents because of its low visibility. Hence black vehicles, especially cars and motor cycles should be discouraged or future production of black vehicle should be banned. Moreover, black cars consume more fuel to maintain the air conditioner cooling, as black color absorb more heat from atmosphere. Just imagine the amount of fuel that can be saved, amount of carbon emission that can be avoided by discouraging black vehicles in the country. Even if the savings in fuel is as low as a single drop per kilometer, the total savings for the country is going to be enormous.

The color of most of the Containers is very dull. Hence container carriers are likely to cause crash when parked near road side, especially under low light conditions. Yellow / bright color should be promoted for containers, internationally.

Safety awareness should begin from childhood, as it is difficult to impart awareness to a grown up human. If safety awareness is imparted in childhood, safety will become a habit.

Video and Computer games involving Motor Racing should be controlled / banned by Government or discouraged by parents as it will develop racing habit in children.

All sorts of Motor sports, especially racing should be banned by government. Telecast of Motor Sports and Racing also should be banned.

Racing, over speed, highly risky riding / driving by heroes should not be filmed in movies and TV serials. Children are likely to imitate the same. Statutory warning will not help. Government should censor such scenes. The suggestion may look like ridiculous or non-practical. It may be noted that scenes involving smoking was banned in India, in October 2005, during the regime of Dr. Anpumani Ramdas. Same logic applies here also. Hats off to Dr. Anpumani Ramdas !!!

Children below a certain age should not be permitted to do cycling in busy roads and in roads where heavy vehicles are plying. Annexure-C Page 3 of 7

Bright colored dresses should be promoted for Children. Dark / dull colors should not be the prominent shade of school uniforms.

Advertisements by automobile companies which include scenes of dangerous and risky riding or driving should be banned. Youngsters are likely to imitate the same. Statutory warnings will not help. Such ads will result in irreparable character formation regarding riding and driving in kids and children. Such children may cause accidents in future.

Automobile and cycle manufacturers should be asked to stop producing black and dark vehicles. Yellow or other bright colored vehicles should be produced instead.

Advertisement boards and other items that may obstruct visibility at junctions, curvatures and other parts of the roads should be removed immediately.

Time Punching of Private buses practiced in some states ( e.g. Kerala) should be discontinued as it is forcing the drivers to go at high speed, after traffic blocks.

Front and Back of Trucks should be painted with bright yellow color to increase visibility. This will help to prevent collisions while Lorries and Trucks are parked on roadside without parking lights switched on.

Reflectors can also be fixed on Front and Back of Trucks and Lorries.

Minimum age limit for two wheeler and Heavy Vehicle license should be raised.

Junctions and narrow areas of roads which cause traffic blocks should be renovated. This will help to save time and avoid over speed.

Over bridges should be constructed at the earliest at busy level crosses. Cost for this will be paid off easily by savings in time, fuel and saving in lives.

Driving tests for issue of driving license is to be made more stringent and foolproof.

Lower age limit for two wheeler and Heavy Vehicle license should be raised.

Law should be modified such that the individual who causes the accident has to bear a part of the insurance claims, depending on severity of negligence. Also the compensations should be made very huge, making accidents unaffordable so that everyone will be very vigilant. Annexure-C Page 4 of 7

Ensure that the money recovered as Road Tax is fully utilized for the construction and maintenance of roads.

Junctions and narrow areas of roads which cause traffic blocks should be renovated. This will help to save time and avoid over speed.

Newspaper, Television and other media should be effectively used for Public Safety Awareness.

Road Safety leaflets should be distributed among public by Information and Public relations Ministry.

License should be mandatory for Electric two wheel vehicles also.

Sound can kill !!! Loud speakers should not be permitted near road side for festivals and meetings.

Silence too can kill !!! Noiseless electric two wheel vehicles are dangerous. Artificial sound should be induced while running.

Life / Health Insurance and vehicle Insurance companies should take up massive public awareness projects. It will pay off !!!

All the roads should be maintained properly. Permanent contracts or arrangements should be in place for maintaining all roads in good condition 24 hours a day, 365 days an year. If a gutter is repaired in time it can save a life !!!

One way traffic should be implemented on all roads as far as possible. Roads should be widened wherever required. Curvatures should be minimized. Medians should be constructed in roads with two way traffic.

Footpaths and medians should be made mandatory for all important roads and for all new roads.

Zebra crossings should be provided at appropriate places for crossing the road safely.

Signals for road crossings should be provided at important and busy places where a large number of people have to cross the road every day.

Roads should be properly marked. Sign posts should be provided wherever required.

Direction boards should be installed wherever required. Annexure-C Page 5 of 7

Humps should be provided at all important places, accident prone areas. Humps should be made mandatory for all sub roads where it enters a main road.

Construction, size and shape of the Humps should be scientific. All concerned in the Public Works Department should be given training on scientific Hump construction.

Humps should be clearly marked, to avoid accidents. Methods of permanent nature should be followed in Hump marking. For example white marble pieces / fluorescent pigment can be used.

Provision of small pilot humps few meters before humps can also be considered to ensure that humps are not left unnoticed.

Obstructions on road sides caused by unauthorized construction and road side sales should be eliminated completely.

Visibility should be increased near turnings. Sometimes, even cutting of grass to increase visibility can help save many lives.

Low cost Anti drowsy warning gadgets should be developed and made mandatory in heavy vehicles, during night travel.

Low cost tamper proof electronic devices should be developed to continuously record the speed of the vehicle and should be fitted on all heavy vehicles. The devices should be examined in case of accidents – a miniature version of black box of aero plane.

Video cameras should be installed at regular intervals on highways and should be centrally monitored.

All automobile manufacturers should be asked to strengthen safety standards of vehicles by improved design. It is to be noted here that in the series of collisions of 200 plus vehicles at Dubai in 2008, only few people were killed. This is because of the high safety standards.

All models of vehicles should be issued an international safety rating number ( say from 1 to 10 ) based on their safety features, design, build, color etc. Vehicle manufacturers will compete to improve the safety to get top ranking. This will ultimately result in saving of many lives. Customers can easily select the safest vehicle based on safety number.

Union Government should play an active role on state governments to control road accidents. Union government should not say that Road Safety is the subject matter of state governments.

Means of mass transportation like Metro Rail / Suburban Rail etc. should be implemented in all major cities. Annexure-C Page 6 of 7

Road accidents are to be recognized as the worst problem of the society. While only few hundred are killed in terrorist attacks, more than 1.2 million persons are killed in road accidents every year, worldwide. Threat due to terrorism is not being underestimated. Road accidents are to be firmly dealt with due importance. Task forces with participation of all concerned should be set up to control road accidents.

Attention distracting Hoardings, banners, posters, advertisements etc should be banned near roads and highways.

A small pool of water or a hanging branch of tree or cable on roadside can cause accidents. Such obstructions will make the pedestrians and drivers to take sudden lateral movement which may result in accidents. Hence any obstruction on the side of roads which can cause a lateral movement should be rectified immediately.

International and BIS standards for the color of Helmets should be changed to bright colors to reduce accidents by increased visibility. Black and dark colors should not be permitted.

Street dogs should be eliminated completely.

Waste should not be deposited on road side. It will attract dogs and cause accidents.

School Buses should be painted with bright yellow color.

Stipulate minimum experience and maximum age limit for the drivers of school buses.

‘Road Safety’ should be a mandatory topic for School Projects for students of all classes.

Road Safety Day / Road Safety Week should be observed in all Schools, every year. Competitions on Road Safety Tips, Slogans, Essays, and Paintings etc. should be conducted for students of various classes.

Accident statistics should be periodically reviewed to understand the effect of actions taken. Corrective steps should be taken based on these reviews.

Eyes of old driving license holders should be checked at regular intervals.

Judicial Commissions should be setup to monitor steps taken to control road accidents and to monitor the accident rates on a weekly basis.

Major accidents and accident prone areas should be analyzed scientifically. Preventive steps should be taken based on the analysis.

Speed should be restricted at accident prone areas. Annexure-C Page 7 of 7

Drunkard driving should be firmly dealt with.

Heavy Penalty should be imposed on all those who cross speed limits. If this is strictly implemented, nobody will dare to go at high speed.

Existing speed limits should be brought down further.

All those who do not maintain the safe distance commensurate with the vehicle in front should be penalized.

Existing traffic rules should be strictly enforced.

More stringent traffic rules should be enacted, if required.

License of those who make serious accidents should be cancelled immediately.

License of drunkard drivers and riders should be cancelled immediately.

Introduce national / state level awards for Road Safety Volunteers / Organizations.

Celebrities from the field of film and sports should play the role of Road Safety Ambassadors to spread road safety tips.

Just like we have Fast Bus Service, we should have Slow Service also. Old people, pregnant ladies, children etc. can make use of it. State owned Bus Transport organizations should start Slow Service. Nominal additional service charge may be levied for the special service, if required.

A Red blinking bulb should be fitted in front of the bus driver’s seat. It should be operated by the Door Checker when old people / pregnant ladies / people carrying babies / children getting in or getting out of the bus.

Top of medians should be cemented to prevent growth of grass. Otherwise, accidents may happen due to lack of visibility while taking U-Turn

At all junctions, STOP mark should be clearly painted, few meters away from the junction, in all directions. Police should ensure that vehicles do not cross the mark when STOP signal is given.

At junctions, vehicles towards the left only should move in the left track.

Lane traffic should b strictly implemented.

Black color should not be used for three wheel vehicles also.