Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has established Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras for bringing the best practices of road safety to the Country and for collaboration between academia, industry, and the Government. All National Highways (NHs) works are carried out as per standards, guidelines, manual, code of practice of Indian Roads Congress (IRC) as well as specifications for Road and Bridge Works which are formulated on the basis of the international best practices and guidelines.

Envisages deployment of Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) with the objective of improving road safety and reducing accidents, on National Highways. ATMS includes AI-based Video Incident Detection and Enforcement Systems (VIDES), Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, Pan to Zoom (PTZ) cameras and surveillance cameras for electronic monitoring, enforcement, early detection of incidents and real-time field response. Various initiatives are undertaken to make vehicles safer, including publishing of the rules for Active safety features in Medium and Heavy Duty vehicles, which

provide for Braking System including Anti-lock Braking, Endurance Braking System for M2, M3, N1, N2, N3 and Quadricycle (effective for new models from 1st January, 2027 and for existing models from 1st October, 2027), and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) including Vehicle Stability Function (VSF), Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning Systems, Blind Spot Information Systems and Moving off Information Systems for M2, M3, N2 and N3 categories of vehicles (effective for new models from 1st October, 2027 and for existing models from 1st January, 2028).

Government has identified High Fatality Corridors on the National Highways and various remedial measures are undertaken based on the site requirements for reducing the accidents. Road Safety Advocacy programs are carried out for raising awareness about road safety. National Road Safety Month is observed every year for spreading awareness and strengthening road safety. During this month public awareness campaigns, distribution of pamphlet, distribution of helmet etc. are carried out so as to minimize road accidents and fatalities.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari Ji in written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

*****

GDH/HJ