NHAI Imparts Training to its Road Safety Officers and Auditors to Achieve Zero Fatality Target on National Highways
NHAI Imparts Training to its Road Safety Officers and Auditors to Achieve Zero Fatality Target on National Highways
In line with the vision of reducing road accident fatalities, NHAI organized a day-long Road Safety training program in New Delhi for its Road Safety Officers (RSOs) from various field offices and Road Safety Auditors (RSAs) from across the country. Shri K.N. Srivastava, (Retd.) Secretary Civil Aviation and Director India International Centre, New Delhi was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Shri Vishal Chauhan, Member (Administration), NHAI along with other senior officials from NHAI Headquarters and field offices were also present on the occasion. The training program was conducted in association with ‘Save life Foundation’.
The day-long session focused on various aspects of road safety through interactive sessions that included initial identification of safety issues causing accidents by a specially developed drone based AI&ML module- Drone Analytics Monitoring System (DAMS), Detailed Inspection Procedure of accident spots and finalization of spot specific mitigation measures leading to safe corridors, Preparation of spot specific mitigation drawings and costings, Field Execution of mitigation measures, Construction Zone safety requirements during execution of mitigation measures and developing mechanism to monitor field progress & accident status pre/post implementation.
Addressing the participants, Chief Guest Shri K.N. Shrivastava (Retd.) Secretary, and Director, IIC said “I would like to congratulate NHAI for transforming National Highways across the country. However, road safety is a critical aspect that requires focus, and this training session will help officers to develop and implement strategies that will enhance road safety. The issue of road safety faces challenges from different fronts that include user behavior and violations of road safety rules, which can be addressed by leveraging modern technology in strengthening road safety measures.”
In his keynote address, Shri Vishal Chauhan, Member (Administration), NHAI said “The three critical dimensions of enhancing road safety includes engineering intervention, human behavior, and vehicle engineering. The use of technology in enhancing road safety such as Electronic Detailed Accident Database (e-DAR), has helped in blackspot identification. Deployment of Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) is improving road safety on National Highways. But we aspire to achieve the ambitious goal of ‘Zero fatalities’ on National Highways, for which we need greater collaboration amongst stakeholders and develop data-driven strategies. I am sure that today’s training is a step in right direction to achieve our goal and make travelling on National Highways safer”
To systematically eliminate preventable road accident fatalities, the Government of India has envisioned Zero Fatality Attainment (ZFA) approach for implementation across National Highways.
The ZFA initiative is aimed at scientifically identifying, addressing and eliminating causes of fatalities and serious injuries on National Highways through engineering interventions, enforcement coordination, emergency response improvement and community engagement. Around 1,083 High Fatality Zones (HFZ) have been identified on 77 National Highways across the country. A special road engineering mitigation measures program has been initiated by NHAI and work will be undertaken on 6,948 critical spots on the identified HFZs.
Also, a Road Safety Action Plan has been prepared based on a rigorous analysis of crash data sourced from the Electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) system for the year 2023 & 2024. It includes targeted interventions across engineering, enforcement and trauma care domains as well as short-term and long-term engineering measures that will be taken by NHAI. Respective District Administrative and police authorities will also assist in taking necessary action for enforcement and trauma care related measures.
In pursuance of the Government of India’s mission of reducing road accident casualties by 50% by the end of 2030, the day long training session imparted deep understanding of various concepts related to ensuring road safety for all road users across the country.