India trails China in road accident deaths

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) Despite increasing number of road accidents, India still trails China in the number of deaths in such accidents, according to the World Road Statistics, 2007, Parliament was informed today.

Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniappa told the Rajya Sabha, in reply to a written question, the survey which has provided data for 2005, states that the number of people killed in accidents in India was 94,968 whereas in China road accidents claimed 98,738 lives.

About the accident rate in Delhi, the Minister said the number of deaths in the capital was 2169 in 2006, which is the latest data.

He said the government had taken a number of steps to improve road safety which is an integral part of design at the planning stage for National Highways.

He said road safety improvement measures include introduction of Highway Management System using Intelligent Transport System, road safety audit in selected stretches, introduction of refresher course for drivers of heavy vehicles in the unorganised sector, widening of National Highways from two to four and from four to six lanes, setting up of model driving schools, invlovement of NGOs for road safety activities and tightening of safety standards of vehicles etc.

UNI NAZ AM DB1354