Road transport ministry looking to fix nearly 13,000 blind spots by March 2025 deadline

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said that by end of March 2025, it will have to eliminate approximately 13,000 blind spots - places where vehicles cannot see incoming traffic and are high accident zones, on both national and state highways.

According to the data on the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) site, close to 4,000 such blind spots were fixed in FY24 of the 9,000 spots identified by the ministry. 

"In the revised dataset, the government has included close to 7,500 places as blind spots that are also seen as trouble zones," informed Anurag Jain, Secretary, MoRTH, while addressing the SIAM convention in Delhi.

The road transport ministry had earlier set a target of fixing 9,000 odd blind spots because that was the data available.

According to official data released by the ministry, there was an increase of 11.9% in accidents, 9.4% in related fatalities, and 15.3% in injuries in 2022 compared to the previous year.

Currently, two-wheeler riders aged 15 to 49 account for a significant proportion of road crashes and fatalities in India. 

In 2022, there were 74,897 two-wheeler fatalities in India, which was more than half of all road accident fatalities. This number was a record high and represented an increase of almost 8% from 2021. Two-wheelers were also responsible for the highest number of pedestrian deaths, with 9,316 pedestrians killed, which was 28% of all pedestrian fatalities. 

Pedestrians, cyclists, and two-wheeler riders are considered vulnerable road users (VRUs), accounting for more than half of all road fatalities. The road transport ministry has circulated a consultation paper titled 'SAFE' for developing strategies to reduce road accidents and deaths, with a focus on VRUs.

Bus Body Code to improve road safety

The road transport ministry has also planned to introduce a new Bus Body Code, which establishes standards for emergency exit placement, seat separation, electric wiring, structure vibrations, braking performance, and vehicle stability function.

The ministry intends to make the installation of blind spot detecting devices mandatory for all buses operating in the country by March 2025.

MoRTH secretary also spoke about providing emergency relief to accident victims. He said that the ministry is looking to provide “seamless accident protocol” that will include police, health system and even courts. 

“The government is putting its best foot forward in terms of using technology to decrease accident rates in the country,” Jain said 

Integrating health systems, police, and courts using technology

The government of India has, through its World Bank-funded project, developed the ‘Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) / e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR)’ mobile application which will enable the police, transport department employees, healthcare workers, and highways department personnel to collect information about road accidents at the accident site, including photos and videos. 

Jain stated that the road transport ministry is currently working on a research project to create credible data base that will help in establishing a uniform accident data collection mechanism in the country. 

The government's goal is to have the road CCTV network connected to the police data servers and integrated with the E-court as well, Jain said.

"We have taken it upon ourselves to ensure a treatment of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for trauma or preliminary stabilization of accident victims,” Jain also said.

"We have also taken up with the state governments to move towards better enforcement of a system that will reduce the number of uninsured vehicles in the country to zero," he added.

Road transport ministry’s two-pronged approach for reducing accident fatalities

MoRTH has proposed two new measures to ensure the safety of bus passengers and drivers in India. The first step is to necessitate that the bus bodybuilders obtain certification from government-approved testing agencies such as ARAI and ICAT. This requirement will become effective from middle of 2025.

The second measure is to encourage the installation of specialised "indirect vision" devices on buses. These devices are similar to the blind spot detection systems found in automobiles.  

Road transport ministry officials have also planned to introduce blind spot devices. They are designed to effectively eliminate such spots by providing bus drivers with a comprehensive view of their surroundings, including areas that were previously difficult to monitor. 

 "The introduction of such ADAS-like devices will also provide drivers with real-time alerts if an obstacle, vehicle, or pedestrian is detected in their blind spots," stated a senior industry analyst present at the SIAM conclave.