<div>Road safety is a shared responsibility, as Joshi rightly points out. The economic, social and health losses resulting from road traffic injuries are not inevitable — road traffic injuries can be prevented. Experience from around the world has identified that the creation of an adequately funded lead agency on road safety is the first important step that needs to be taken to effectively tackle road traffic crashes and injuries. In India, a mechanism to address road safety management across ministries has yet to be established and leadership role and coordination are not in place. There has been no focus on achieving results in recent years despite the mess on our roads as there is a serious lack of human and financial resources in road safety within the government. <br /><br />Internationally, models for institutional arrangements for road safety in several countries including the UK, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia make excellent case studies for developing countries such as ours to follow. In the US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), established way back in the 1970s, is dedicated to achieving the highest standards of excellence in vehicle and highway safety. The NHTSA leads the effort to help prevent crashes and their attendant human and financial costs. Since 1997, Sweden has been working towards its highly ambitious long-term goal to eliminate death and serious injury in its road traffic system. <br /><br />Though different institutional frameworks are possible, there is an urgent need to create a lead agency in the government to guide the national road safety effort. The agency should have authority and responsibility to make decisions, control resources and coordinate efforts by all sectors of government — including those of health, transport, judiciary, education and the police. It should have adequate finances for road safety, and should be publicly accountable for its actions while also engaging all significant groups — business, NGOs, the automobile industry, academia and research, experts and community groups concerned with road safety. Such agency should be an independent statutory body attached to, or functioning in parallel with the Ministry of Surface Transport, and independent of the road building agency. This agency should have a chairman of the rank of a minister or secretary to the government of India.<br /><br />On the other side, at the state level, institutional structures will be needed to implement policy. Formal systems need to be set up in each state and in each city to coordinate local efforts. Operational intersectoral programmes can be designed and implemented every year. These plans and interventions will take into account national priorities as well as the local needs identified through the involvement of local actors. <br /><br />The tasks of a lead agency will be to commission all activities regarding road safety; formulate policy on road safety; coordinate between different agencies of the government, research and academic institutions, and NGOs; compile statistics; set road safety research priorities and fund projects; disseminate information and good practice; establish safety standards for roads; and monitor the effectiveness of the road safety.<br /><br />The UN launched a Decade of Action for Road Safety in May 2011 and encouraged member states to take strategic steps to improve road safety nationally and globally. In response, several dozen countries announced their national plans to strengthen their road safety situations. Regrettably, India with the largest burden of road fatalities in the world, failed to respond to the call as the government departments were not clear as to which minister (health or surface transport) would lead the plan. Naturally, since we do not have a coordinated effort on road safety. <br /><br />It is better late than never. The time has arrived and the hope has emerged with fresh thinking of priorities with the new government. However, political intention, sustained will and a long-term investment programme will bring real road safety to India. <br /><em><br />The writer led WHO’s global programme of strengthening the care of the injured, in Geneva, and advised several countries on reduction of road traffic related mortality. He coordinated WHO’s ‘Road Safety in 10 Countries’ programme in India until 2013</em><br /><br />(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 06-10-2014)</div>
