E-Paper
Centre for Road Safety launched for crash prevention
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launched the Centre for Advancement of Road Traffic Safety (CARTS) to assess and rectify crash blackspots using technology-based solutions. The initiative aims to reduce road crash fatalities by 50% in 100 high-priority districts and 100 highway corridors in the next five years. CARTS will serve as an operational nerve-centre to implement and monitor road safety projects, including the Zero Fatality Corridor (ZFC) and Zero Fatality District (ZFD) programmes. The ZFC model has already resulted in significant reductions in road crash fatalities on various highways and expressways.
New Delhi Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday launched the Centre for Advancement of Road Traffic Safety (CARTS), that will use technology-based solutions to assess crash blackspots and rectify the same.
Officials said CARTS aims to serve as an operational nerve-centre to implement and monitor road safety projects across India, especially the ministry’s flagship Zero Fatality Corridor (ZFC) and the Zero Fatality District (ZFD) programmes. The initiative targets a 50% reduction in road crash fatalities in 100 high-priority districts and 100 highway corridors in the next five years. The corridors and districts under this project are in the process of being finalised.
Gadkari inspected the various crash investigation, analysis and mitigation capabilities present at CARTS, established by SaveLIFE Foundation, including ZFC data dashboards with real-time project information on road lengths, fatality counts, trends and concerns detected in aspects related to enforcement, emergency care and engineering.
“Our government is committed to ensuring that road crashes in India are brought down with urgency. The use of technology and innovation is extremely important in the current times given the magnitude of the problem at hand and what we want to achieve,” said the minister.
The ZFC model is currently being deployed across state and national highways and expressways across 16 states in India. As per their data, the model yielded an over 63% reduction in road crash fatalities on the Old Mumbai-Pune highway. On the Mumbai Pune Expressway, the model has delivered a 52% decline in road crash fatalities between 2016 and 2020, and a 38% decline on the Yamuna Expressway between 2019 and 2021, as per the data .
Founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, Piyush Tewari, said, “This centre, driven by deep data analytics and a problem-solving approach to road crashes will play a crucial role in delivering a nationwide reduction in road crash fatalities. The centre will actively assist road-owning agencies and district administrations in identifying and solving issues leading to road crashes and subsequent fatalities.”
He added that each year, India loses approximately 150,000 lakh people to road crashes.
.
