E-Paper
UP may soon have rules for regulation of pedestrians on highways
Govt asks departments concerned to submit draft rules to the transport department, the nodal body for road safety, at the earliest for further action
LUCKNOW Uttar Pradesh may soon make rules to regulate movement of pedestrians, non-mechanised transport on highways and prescribe rules for design/maintenance of roads and hold construction agencies/contractors accountable for faulty road design.
Fast tracking a proposal mooted in this connection a year ago, the government has asked the departments concerned to submit draft rules to the transport department, the nodal body for road safety, at the earliest, for further action.
Principal secretary (transport) L Venkateshwar Lu held a meeting on road safety last week, asking the traffic department to rush the draft on regulating pedestrians, non-mechanized transport on highways and at public places, said officials.
“The PWD has already submitted the draft rules for design and maintenance of roads and highways but the traffic department is yet to summit the draft for regulation of pedestrians and non-mechanized transport and has been asked to do the same quickly,” said a senior transport department official. “We will soon send a consolidated proposal to the government for making rules under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019,” he added.
The principal secretary, transport, indicated that a decision on making rules might be taken after the civic polls. “We will take necessary action after the traffic department submits the draft rules,” he told HT over phone.
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, inserted a new subsection (1 A) in Section 138, empowering state governments to make rules on how the activities of pedestrians and non-motorised road transport users, like cyclists at a public place, can be regulated. For this, a state government can create special zones such as cycle tracks/footpaths and also control their access to such highways.
Similarly, Section 210 (D) of the same Act authorises state governments to make rules for design, construction and maintenance standard of roads other than the national highways and hold road construction agencies liable for road design defects.
“A meeting will be held with the UP government in this regard next week and hope the government invites public comments to draft rules next month. The rules may be notified three months after this,” said SaveLife Foundation founder Piyush Tewari, who also made a recommendation for the government to make rules for regulating pedestrians and non-motorized users and holding contractors accountable for faulty road design.
“We are proposing to the government to make rules as authorized by the sections 138 1 (A) and 210 (D) of the MV (Amendment Act), 2019, to bring down the number of road accidents that often occur due the faulty road designs and ensure safety of pedestrians and non-motorized transport users who are the most vulnerable sections,” said PS Satyarthi, deputy commissioner, road safety.
According to him, 8,885 of the total 41,746 road accidents were reported to be due to faulty road designs and defects (potholes, curved road, steep grade, etc) in UP in 2022, in which 4,745 people died. A total of 22,594 people were killed during the same year.
