Here’s why road safety should get a special mention in Budget 2016

India accounts for over 12 per cent of the world’s annual road fatalities of 12.4 million and we should definitely not be proud of this fact.

Therefore, road safety should become an important topic that needs to be widely discussed in the Budget 2016 as the figures are alarming.

An analysis of the road accident data of 2014 revealed that on an average about 56 accidents take place and 16 lives are lost every hour in India.

It is noteworthy that out of the total number of road accidents, 28.2 per cent took place on National Highways, 25.2 per cent occurred on State Highways and a whopping 46.6 per cent happened on other roads in 2014.

The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of number of road accident fatalities increased from 3.6 per cent to 4.2 per cent in decades 1993-2003 and 2004-2014.

Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is trying hard to plus in the gaps and provide instant care to road accident injures.

He also sought financial assistance for road safety measures and amenities like setting up of trauma centres, etc and also appealed to the private players in creating such facilities.

This also brings into limelight the passage of Road Safety Bill, which the minister is pushing the parliament to pass at the earliest.

"I am responsible for national highways. But we have many such highly accident-prone spots on state and local roads. I have approached the Finance ministry to pursue if financial support to the tune of 50 per cent of the total cost can be provided to the states and local bodies who will take up such projects," Gadkari had said during a Road Safety Week event.

(Image: Indiatimes)