Options for Making Roads Safe (1)

Options for Making Urban Roads Safe
 Jit Kumar Gupta
Introduction
Producing 30.91 million motor vehicles in the year 2018-19, India was
globally ranked the fourth largest car manufacturer in the world; largest
manufacturer of three-wheelers as (1.27 m units) and seventh largest
commercial vehicle (1.11 m units). In addition, India's two-wheeler
manufacturers rolled out 24.5 m units during the same period (Indian
Automobile Association). Considering the fact India is fast becoming global
hub of manufacturing the automobiles,leading to addition of more and more
vehicles on the urban roads, safety on urban roads and that of road- users
is fastemerging as a major concernand issue forthe state, communities and
people.With more and more accidents taking place, Indian roads are being
consideredhighly unsafe, reporting huge loss of life and property on day-to-
day basis.According to areportbythe transport researchwing of the Ministry
of Road Transport and Highways, Indian roads remain highly unsafe,
recording largest fatalities in the world, followed by China. Report further
revealed that a total of 151,113
people were killed in 480,652 road
accidents across India in the year
2019,killing 414 persons a day or 17
an hour, As peravailable statistics on
an average, a human life is lostevery
three and half minutes and 55
accidents are reported every hour on
the Indian roads. Number of
unreported accidents and loss of life
is understood to be much higher in
the country. Majority of people killed

and injured are known to be either pedestrians and cyclists, who constitute
the most vulnerable section of road-users. Number of mechanical two-
wheelers vehicles involved in road accidents, have also shown increasing
trend in the recent years.
In order to minimize the loss of precious human lives and property, besides
minimizing load on healthcare infrastructures, it will be vital to make roads
both safe and supportive of comfortable mobility of the people and
communities.With large proportionof accidents taking place in urban areas,
it will be important, urban roads must be made area of focus to promote road
safetyin the urban settlements.Road safetyremains criticalin urban context,
as roads are known for their role and importance, as promoters of efficacy,
efficiency and productivity of urban areas. Accordingly, roads must be
planned and designed not only to facilitate mobility but also to make them
safe for all urban users to move from one place to another, as a part of daily
human operations.
Road safetyis also known to considerablyimpactthe pattern of urban traffic
and use of the urban roads. Lack of road safety has emerged as the major
roadblock/challenge in securing change in urban mobility patterns. Majority
of people consider road safety in their cities as a major problem / barrier in
taking up cycling. It is critical to recognize that safer roads also mean
sustainable roads and if groups of road users are deterred from using unsafe
roads, majority of them are likely to shift and opt for other less sustainable
modes of transport.
Despite critical importance of safer roads in the urban context, road safety
has not been given adequate addressed, focused and paid attention by
policy makers, planners, administrators and stakeholders. Achieving safety
on roads has been largely confined to merely deploying regulatory
mechanism involving policy of policing and challaning and punishing the
offenders. Road safety, as an issue, has never been addressed holistically

and made integral part of urban governance, urban planning, development,
management and sustainable urban mobility plans.
Road safety includes large number of stakeholders involving state, urban
local bodies, parastatal agencies, road users, vehicles plying on the roads,
drivers, infrastructure providers, urban/transport planners, unified traffic
regulatory authorities, police etc. Stakeholders have never been brought on
same platform to discuss, deliberate and address the issue of urban safety
in a rational, focused and holistic manner.
Unfortunately, road safety has
been considered largely a
government responsibility with
least involvement of the road
users, communities, society and
other stakeholders. This has led to
emergence of a peculiar culture
being developedamong road users
of violating all norms and standards
of road safety, when assured that
there is no body monitoring their
road behavior. This notion and
culture have led to making roads
highly unsafe particularly during evening, night and early morning hours,
when there is minimum surveillance on roads.Formaking urban roads safe,
it will be critical and vital, to make road safety a shared responsibility
involving communities and stakeholders, actively and rationally. Approach
and efforts are urgently needed to make road safetya communityand people
led movement, involving all stakeholders, which would help in making cities
more safe, livable, productive, effective and efficient.

Issues
There remain large number of issues related to road safety, which have not
been adequately addressed and which requires focused attention to make
urban roads safe. Making roads safer provide value addition to the
operational efficiency and quality of living in the urban areas. Roads are
known for their capacity and value to makes urban areas more productive
and operationally efficient.Despite distinctrole,safer roads play in the urban
context,they continue to remain unsafe.Major issues which hinder the safety
on urban roads are observed to include; Heterogeneity and mixing of
conflicting traffic moving on the urban Roads- both mechanical/non-
mechanical; low priority to safety of roads and road users; inadequate road
space available under traffic and transportation; disconnect between urban
planning and planning for safer roads; poor road geometry; poor quality of
urban roads; inadequate road infrastructure; poor road signages; low level
of road literacy; growing mismatch between road capacity and increasing
population of vehicles ; lack of traffic regulatory controls in majority of urban
settlements;high degree of encroachmenton road space;road space being
increasingly leased to informal sector for trade and commerce; absence of
well-defined hierarchy of urban roads; absence of well-defined norms for
road planning and development; lack of resources for planning and
development of safer roads; multiplicity of agencies operating at state and
local level ; lack of trained manpower for planning and designing safe roads;
lack of well-defined/adequate parking spaces; road space used for parking
of vehicles; low priority to planning for safety of pedestrians and cyclists in
the traffic network; outdated legal framework; poor enforcement of existing
legal framework; low capacity of local agencies to address the issue of road
safety; lack of respect for traffic related laws; absence of well-defined
vision/mission; absence of adequate research in the area of road safety;
non-involvement of communities in making roads safe etc.

Options
Considering the major
implications and importance of
having saferurban roads,globally
nations/cities are trying to find
options to promote highest order
of road safety to protect the life
and liberty of the road-users and
ensure rational functioning of the
cities and towns. These efforts
revolve around creating an
enabling environment for making
roads safe; educating and
involving communities; rationalizing legal framework governing the traffic;
promoting research in the area of road safety; allocating more resources;
rationalizing the priority for road users; promoting safer means of mobility;
creating appropriate safer road supportive infrastructure; focusing on
vulnerable road users; promoting pedestrianization and cycling; minimizing
use of personal vehicles; reducing congestion ; looking at best options to
make roads safe ; networking with cities and nations to find bestoptions and
learn from their experiences etc.Based onthe principles used and practices
adopted/made operational globally to promote efficacy and efficiency of
urban operations, following options can be leveraged to achieve the
objectives of making roads safe in the urban context;
 Each city must be made to define their Vision about road safety,
specifying the targets they would like to achieve in terms of reducing
accidents and reducing vulnerability of road users within a given time
span and laydown a mission approach to achieve the defined
objectives.Cities must make effortto reduce accidents by a minimum
of 50% in a time span of 5 years and declare a policy of zero tolerance
to road violations, leading ultimately to zero accidents.

 For making urban roads safe, it
will be critical to adopt and
promote a policyof modalpriority
for road users based on safety,
vulnerability and sustainability,
by redefining and re-orderpriority
of traffic and transportation
planning from -Planning for
Vehicles to Planning for
People-withfocus on people and
not on vehicles. In such an
option, highest care and priority will go to the safety of people who
walk, followed by cyclists and people opting for mass transportation,
with individual mechanized vehicles like cars, having least priority.
 Promoting accessibility and not mobility- should remain the
underlying theme of transportation planning to make roads safe by
planning, designing self-contained and self-sufficient communities
besides leveraging technologiesincluding,ICT,IOT,Online payments,
Suvidha Kendras etc to minimize travel on urban roads and reduce
number of trips.
 According Road safety, highest priority by making it integral part of
Urban planning involving preparing Master Plans, DevelopmentPlans,
Zonal Plans, local area plans and Sustainable Urban Transportation
planning and development strategies at the local level.
 Promoting Road safetyshould invariably involve mandating all cities to
define and followa well-definedhierarchy ofurban roads,matching
road functions to speed limit,layout and design,based on the principle
of the Safe System approach. Hierarchy must clearly specify norms
and standards for each category of urban road involving; right of way,
width of carriage way, nature and volume of traffic to be catered,
elements of road design, street furniture, services, landscape,
footpaths, parking etc; based on their context and nature and volume
of traffic to be catered by roads and needs to be planned, designed
and developed accordingly.

 Road safety must focus on making walking and cycling to be the
most important and safest modes of urban transport and
evolving/putting in place, options to eliminate their vulnerability to
accidents when involved in conflict with mechanized vehicles while
using the roads. Safe road design for walking and cycling is known to
accelerate the acceptance of these sustainable modes of travel and
reduce their risk/vulnerability. Availability of limited road space in urban
areas needs to be optimally, effectivelyand efficientlyused, to enable
increased mobility without putting road users in danger. This would
require dedicating some of the space currently reserved for motor
vehicles, for walking and cycling.
 Empowering pedestrians and cyclists in terms of safety would
require imparting education, creating awareness and creating
appropriate features/infrastructures
for their safety while using the
roads. Heavy traffic flows remain
invariably major deterrent to
cycling. Conflict between cyclists
and motor vehicles can be
effectively reduced by introduction
of specific bicycle lanes; making
areas car-free; closing minor
streets to motorvehicles to facilitate
cycling. Installing cyclist sensors at
junctions with traffic lights for
detecting a cyclist and extending the green light timing to give the
cyclist enough time to pass through the junction, has led to change of
a mindset in traffic management, as cyclist mobility stands prioritized
over the motorized road users.
 Road safety needs to be accorded due priority, by allocating dedicated
funds at the national, state and local level for achieving the defined
levels of urban road safety. Funds collected from road violations
should be used for promoting research in road safety.

 Road safety must be made integral part of education curricula at
school level, for creating awareness about the subject to modify the
behavior of the road users at the earliest stage of life. Involving
educational institutions and students, on regular basis, can help in
creating awareness and understanding the context of road safety
among users to make urban roads safe.
 All existing urban roads must be classified based on level of safety
achieved and notified for the information of the people of the city.
Extensive studies must be taken to figure out reasons for accidents on
particular roads/stretches recording high incidences of accidents,
along with remedial steps defined and implemented to make them
safe.
 Using urban planning mechanism to promote road safety by
avoiding directaccess to the major roads to all residential planning and
development. No residential planning along the arterial roads should
be permitted to avoid accidents in residential areas. Principle of
Introvert planning followed in the planning of residential sector of
Chandigarh, with no house opening/facing the arterial roads, could be
used as an option to promote road safety in residential areas.
 Eliminating mixing of goods traffic and passenger traffic and
redirecting/re-routing goods traffic from urban habitable areas,
are known to promote road safetyand reduce fatal accidents on urban
roads.
 Rationalizing inter and intra- city traffic is known to make urban
roads safe by eliminating the conflict between city and through traffic,
reducing traffic load and cutting down number of accidents in urban
areas, involving heavy goods/passenger vehicles.
 Concept of streets instead of roads, when used in the planning of
residential areas is known to promote high degree of safety in urban
settlements, considering the distinct advantages streets hold over the
roads, in terms of managing and rationalizing flow of the local traffic.

 Holding exhibitions and lectures on road safety at the local/
community level,on regular basis, can be used an optionforpromoting
a culture of road safety among road users.
 Educating road users about the road safety should also be made
integral part of agencies involved in traffic planning and management.
Creating dedicated cells for promoting/educating about road safety
within all such agencies can be major contributors to achieving road
safety in urban areas.
 For achieving road safety, city must focus on the most vulnerable
sections of society including slums, informal settlements and areas
housing the informal sector for educating, creating awareness and
empowering them, while using the roads.
 Road safety will require special focus on children, elders, senior
citizens and physicallychallenged,considering their vulnerability as
road users by creating appropriate framework for safety.
 Partnering, co-operating and collaborating with voluntary based
organizations, community-based organizations and non-
governmental organizations will be vital to make road safety as the
people led movement.
 Creating a think tank at local level, comprising of subject experts,
academicians, voluntary organizations, industrial/trade organizations,
professional bodies like Indian Institute of Architects/Institute of Town
Planners /Institute of Engineers etc ,would help in creating a realistic
road map for achieving road safety for the city.
 Since road safety revolves around behaviour, capacity , knowledge
and understanding of the driver while on the road, it will be critical
to educate and train them about the importance of safe driving while
being on the road. Making licensing stringent and ensuring continued
evaluation of the drivers, with regard to their eligibility, capacity and
commitment to rational and orderlydriving, would help in making urban
roads safe.
 Ensuring cyclists and pedestrians have a minimum level of traffic
education and awareness of the risks imposed by the current traffic
system; introducing/ enforcing a system of sanctions on pedestrians
and cyclists, exposing themselves/other road users to unnecessary

risks; encouraging cyclists to wear helmets and having adequate
lighting when cycling in the dark etc., will help in promoting their safety
on urban roads
 Foraddressing the issue of road safety inan integrated and holistic
manner, it will be desirable to eliminate multiplicity of agencies
operating in the area to be replaced by a single agency looking at
planning, designing, operation, management and enforcementof road
safety besides licensing of the driver in an integrated manner. Agency
should also be empowered to adjudicate on all road-based
offences/issues for speedier/rational resolutions.
 Developing, encouraging and capacity buildings of the city level
institutions to create and implement appropriate framework related
to traffic calming, intersection improvements, safe pedestrian
crossings ,cycling infrastructure design and renewing/maintain
them on regular basis , based on the latest research and innovation in
the area of road safety.
 Setting up a knowledge sharing platform at the state /regional
levels, for documenting all prevailing good practices related to road
safety and sharing among cities for adoption and implementation, will
help local agencies adopting and innovating new options for road
safety at local level. Awarding and recognizing agencies/
individuals/organizations, doing exemplary work in the domain of road
safety will help in improving road safety in urban areas bringing more
innovations.
 Rationalizing existing legal framework, governing traffic and
transportation by including road safety as an essentialingredientof the
urban transportation, will be critical for promoting road safety.
 Creating an effective and efficient mechanism of checking the health
of vehiclesregardingtheirroad worthiness onregular basis can be
a major contributor to promoting urban road safety
 Rational siting and use of Traffic Signs are known for the value to
communicate laws, directions, crosswalks, designated areas,
pedestrian zones, speed limits, work zones, and other key pieces of
information that help increased awareness and confidence fordrivers,
pedestrians, and cyclists.

 Active co-operations and collaborations regarding cross-border
exchange of information on traffic offences will help in promoting
road safety and minimizing road related offences.
 Creating a national/state/local level data bank regarding vehicles
ownership, vehicle details, offences committed and an efficient
tracking system can be effectivelyleveraged forachieving road safety.
 Showing zero tolerance to drunken driving and unsafe/dangerous
driving leading to death or injury to road users by awarding exemplary
punishment and making them ineligible to drive in future, will help in
reducing number of road accidents. Strict traffic law enforcement is
shown to make important contribution to improving urban road safety
and changing road user behaviour.
 Linking quantum of annual premium of car and personal
insurance to be paid with the number of traffic offences/accidents
committed (paying higher premium when involved in accidents) will
help in making people more responsible, committed, careful and
watchful, while driving on the roads
 Setting up Traffic Command Centres at the local level would be of
great help in making urban roads highly safe by effectivelymonitoring
the flow of traffic, understanding behavior of the road users,identifying
most vulnerable traffic spots, recording accidents, understanding the
causes of accidents, identifying traffic hold up and rationalizing the
smooth flow of traffic at the local level.
 Leveraging technology,using camerasand sensors on the urban
roads would help in effectively monitoring the behaviour of the road
users, flow of traffic 24x7x365, character of traffic,
adequacy/inadequacy of infrastructures etc, to make roads safe in the
urban context.
 Evolving and putting in place a rational and realistic road safety
strategy,duly supportedwith a dedicatedbudget and collaboration
between different departments and stakeholders, at local level, can
help in achieving high levels of road safety.

 Limiting speed of the vehicles is also known for its efficacy to reduce
vulnerability of the road users and in making urban roads safe.
Prescribing rational speed limits, duly supported by infrastructure
measures and proper checks, has its own credibility. Many cities and
towns globally have successfully introduced a system across their
urban networks, where vehicles are permitted to travel at 50 km/h on
major roads and 30 km/h forotherroads to reduce road accidents. Few
cities have even adopted 30 / 40 km/h speed limit, as standard for the
urban roads to promote safety.
 Studies conducted by the Swedish Transport Research Institute (VTI)
have shown that Traffic calming and separationof vulnerableroad
users from motorized traffic are known for their capacity to reduce
congestion and make urban roads safe by reducing serious road
traffic injuries. Road calming has also helped in shifting large volume
of motorvehicles,from localcityroads to arterial /national roads,where
vehicles can travel at higher speeds, and have limited possibility of
getting into conflicts with pedestrians or cyclists. Lower speeds and
reductions in motorized traffic, achieved through traffic calming, has
encouraged citizens to walk and cycle.
Global Good Practices for Road Safety
Considering the ever-increasing number of accidents, leading to
considerable loss of human lives and property, globally cities are searching
to find appropriate and possible options to make theirroads safe forthe users
by eliminating all possible conflicts. Largescale experimentation is being
made to change the behaviour of the road users; creating
awareness/responsibility about road safety among road users; shifting
people to safer modes of walking and cycling ;minimizing the use of
personalized vehicles; creating improved infrastructures and leveraging
technologies to make urban roads safe. Good practices adopted for
promoting road safety by different cities/countries have been enumerated
below;

 LATVIA- used the mechanism of funding General Road Safety
campaigns 3-4 times in a year formodulating change in attitude of road
users; targeted infrastructure improvements dulysupported bygradual
implementation of 30 km/h zones, installation of speed humps;
management of high risk sites and construction of pedestrian / bicycle
infrastructure, which led to improving the safety on the urban roads .
 CZECH REPUBLIC—Improved urban road safety with recorded
decrease in number of people killed made possible by; gradual
implementation of traffic calming measures; upgradation of
pavements; building cycling supportive infrastructure; illuminating
pedestrian crossings; promoting speed enforcement by safety
cameras ; carrying out stringent police roadside checks; decrease in
number of drivers violating the speed limit on urban roads.
 POLAND- Town of Jaworzno promoted road safety by; narrowing the
town’s streets; traffic calming; creating dedicated 30 km/h zones;
redirecting through-traffic passing through the city; reconstructing 30%
of town’s streets;decreasing car users;promoting walking and cycling.
 PORTUGAL-Promoted safetyon urban roads by; integrating road
safety with Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan; improving road
infrastructure; diverting traffic from national roads to new motorways /
other major roads; reduced traffic volumes due to economic
slowdown.
 FRANCE- Achieved high degree of road safety by making and
implementing Urban Mobility Plans mandatory for municipalities
having population more than 100,000 ;ensuring coordinationbetween
different modes of transport; improving road safety; environmental
protection; increased access to transport for people with reduced
mobility; partially funding Road safety work by money collected from
safety camera ticket fines.
 London Prepared Vision Zero Plan—for road safety;
mandating by 2041, 80% of all journeys to be performed bywalking,
cycling and public transport ; investing in streets to make them safer
for walking / cycling; lowering speed limits in congested areas;
transforming dangerous junctions; prescribing safety standards for

design of heavy goods vehicles; launching comprehensive bus safety
programme supported by Intelligent Speed Assistance ; launching
training course for all drivers; defining CongestionCharging Zone and
intensifying police enforcement activities.
 Amsterdam is trying to achieve highest degree of road safety by
systematically stripping its inner-city parking spaces since 2019;
reducing the number of permitted parking annually by around 1,500 to
remove 11,200 parking spaces by the end of 2025; using cleared
parking spaces forbike parking, creating wider sidewalks and planting
large number of trees.
Conclusion
Urban settlements are fast
emerging places where the
majority of journeys begin and
end. Accordingly, these urban
centers are facing multiple,
often conflicting needs and
challenges, when it comes to
managing the way people and
goods move around. With fast
changing options of urban
travel and mobility, nature of
these challenges is also
evolving and devolving. With
rapid increase in urban
population coupled with
increasing longevity of life and low affordabilityof majority of urban residents,
large proportion of urban population is being forced to walk and cycle,
making them most vulnerable to the prevailing chaotic traffic conditions on
urban roads. Increasing concern about vehicles, causing high degree of air
pollution is also gaining currency on political agenda to promote
sustainability by reducing/limiting the number of personalized vehicles onthe
urban roads.

Considering the entire context of traffic and transportation in urban setting,
Road safety remains largely a complexand vexed issue, particularly in the
Indian context, due to large number of factors involved, which inter-alia
include; unpredictable behaviour of road users; large number of old and
outdated vehicles using roads; callous driving; lack of respectforother road
users; limited availability of space under roads; poor and outdated road
geometry;high degree of encroachmenton road space; mixing of passenger
and good traffic;lack of understanding and respect forrules and regulations
governing the use of the road and road behaviour; outdated rules and
regulations focusing primarily on punishment; large scale corruption
prevailing in the police force manning the traffic; absence of well-defined
criteria for man power deployment in traffic management; poor road
infrastructure; lack of availability of trained manpower in traffic and
transportation; road safety commanding low priority; large disconnect
between road safety and urban planning, development and management;
inadequate/absence of availability of dedicated funds for road safety;
multiplicity of agencies operating in the area of traffic planning; delayed
delivery of justice etc. Providing safe mobility, to vulnerable road users
remain the most challenging task and presents a major challenge to
agencies engaged in making urban roads safe. This challenge needs to be
effectively met and taken up on priority for winning the confidence of road
users, by authorities operating at local level.
Considering the emerging role and importance of urban India in; housing
large proportion of national population; making India a 5 trillion economy;
generating large employment;eradicating poverty and ushering prosperity;
providing quality infrastructure, acting as centers of innovations and quality
living etc, it will be both critical and vital that urban settlements are made
operationally efficient, economically vibrant, socially inclusive,
environmentally sustainable. This can happen only if the urban roads are
made safe to walk, drive and are able to lead urban residents to their homes
in a safe mode. Since efficiency and efficacy of urban areas is largely
contingent upon its efficienttransportation and mobility network, accordingly
making urban roads safe will be vital, critical and essential to make urban
areas more sustainable, safe, resilient and inclusive, as mandated in the
SDG 11, defined by United Nations.

Achieving the objective of promoting effective road safety would also require
involving and creating appropriate and dedicated funding, duly supported by
well-defined long term realistic and rational planning, policies and programs.
Considering the nature of road safety, local level authorities would need to
be empowered, adequately and appropriately, with financial resources and
technical manpower to professionally address the complexityof road safety
and effectivelyimplementing the road safety related plans at the local level.
How best it will be done effectivelyand efficiently,will hold the key to make
urban settlements more productive and great places to live and work.
 Note-- For writing this paper, author would like to gratefully and thankfully
acknowledge the valuable input received from the contents/intent of the Report –
Safer Roads, Safer Cities: How To Improve Urban Safety in The EU-Pin Flash
Report 37,authors- DoviléAdminaité; Graziella Jost; Henk Stipdon; Heather Ward;
Richard Allsop -dated June 2019,
Author;
**Jit Kumar Gupta
Former Advisor, Town Planning Punjab Urban Development Authority
#344, Sector 40-A, Chandigarh-160036
mail- jit.kumar1944@gmail.com, mob- 90410-26414

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