Centre's newest way to address road fatalities, cash rewards for Good Samaritans

Being a Good Samaritan pays! At least, it will now. As per a recent notification by the road ministry, anyone who saves the life of a road accident victim by rushing them to a hospital within the ‘golden hour’ will be rewarded Rs 5,000 for their effort. The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued guidelines for the scheme, which will be in place from 15 October 2021 till 31 March, 2026.

The government has been implementing several plans to make the country’s roads safe for travelling. Road accidents in India A report, titled Guide for Road Safety Opportunities and Challenges: Low- and Middle-Income Countries Country Profiles , by the World Bank revealed that with only one percent of the world’s vehicles, India accounted for 11 percent of the global death in road accidents, the highest in the world in 2019. Data showed that the country accounts for about 4.5 lakh road crashes per annum, in which 1.5 lakh people die. The report further stated that India witnessed 53 road crashes every hour; killing one person every four minutes. The road ministry also stated that 76.2 percent of people who died in road crashes are in the age group of 18-45 years. The situation is so dire in the nation that Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Minister Nitin Gakdari had been quoted as saying that the road accident scenario in India was more “dangerous than the COVID-19 pandemic”. A recent study commissioned by MoRTH estimated the socio-economic costs of road crashes at Rs 1,47,114 crore in India, which is equivalent to 0.77 percent of the country’s GDP. Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety Taking into consideration the high number of deaths on roads across the globe, in 2015, the World Health Organisation came up with the Brasilia Declaration, which called out for stringent traffic laws to prevent accidents. In the declaration, participating countries asserted their commitment to reducing the deaths caused due to traffic accidents to half by the year 2020. This target was set under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. India adopted the same in 2015, with Nitin Gadkari signing it on behalf of India at the 2nd High Level Global Conference. However, India hasn’t been able to achieve the goal of cutting road death rates by 50 percent. Gadkari said that a total of 366,138 road accidents occurred in India during the calendar year 2020, a drop from the 4,37,396 road accident cases in 2019. Similarly deaths have also reduced with India reporting 1,31,714 deaths in 2020 compared to 1,54,732 in 2019. Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019 Another way the government has tried to reduce road deaths is by implementing the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019 . The legislation increased the penalties for traffic violations, defective vehicles and juvenile driving. It also provides for a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, which would provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India for certain types of accidents. When introduced in September 2019, many had criticised it saying that the amendment to the law was solely done to earn money from traffic violations. However, defending the move, Nitin Gadkari had reiterated that the idea of increasing the penalty against the violators was not to earn money but to save the life of many stakeholders who could be involved in road traffic accidents. In fact, Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha in November 2019 that road accidents and fatalities reduced nine percent in at least nine states after the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 came into effect from 1 September 2019. During September-October 2019, 3,375 people died in road accidents in comparison to 3,729 deaths during the same period in 2018. Moreover, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 had also inserted a new section 134A for the protection of good Samaritans who come to the aid of road accident victims. The rules provided for the Rights of Good Samaritan, which include that the person shall be treated respectfully without any discrimination on the grounds of religion, nationality, caste or sex. The rule also stated that every public and private hospital shall publish a charter in Hindi, English and vernacular language, at the entrance or other conspicuous location and on their website, stating the rights of good Samaritans under the Act and the rules made thereunder. And on 5 October, the government said that a good Samaritan would be given a cash award of Rs 5,000 if he rushed a road accident victim to the hospital within the ‘golden hour’ of the mishap. For those who don’t know, the ‘Golden hour’ refers to the one-hour time period following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care. Better roads Other than the new legislation, the government has also acknowledged the role that the quality of roads play in accidents. As one can imagine, faulty roads are accident-prone and curves on roads and potholes are contributing factors to road accidents. The Road Accidents in India 2018 report by MoRTH showed that roads with sharp curves, potholes and steep gradients tend to be more accident-prone because successfully negotiating them requires skill, extra care and alertness. Additionally, speeding on highways is another reason for accidents. KK Kapila, President Emeritus of International Road Federation was quoted as telling Deccan Herald , “Accidents are caused due to the tendency to over-speed on the good quality of Expressways and Highways wherein the safety parameters are often compromised to reduce costs.” Road discipline Road discipline is one thing that is lacking among drivers, which leads to accidents and fatalities. Drivers and two-wheeler users often are found not wearing seatbelts and helmets respectively. For this, the government has carried out several public service announcements, emphasising the importance of both and also imposed heavy fines for those who don’t comply. Nitin Gadkari hopes that reduction deaths in road accidents to go down by 50 percent before 2025 . He had also said that if “we keep waiting till 2030, then at least six-seven lakh people will die more due to road accidents”. Will we be able to achieve this goal? Let’s hope so! With inputs from agencies