Safe Roads at Rio +20<\/p>\n
A Submission to the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development by the commission for Global Road Safety. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Road Traffic Accidents take a toll of more than a lakh and twenty five thousand in India and added to that more than 5 lakhs people get injured. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Inspite of having a target of reducing by 20% reduction the number of deaths and injuries is increasing alarmingly. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Though the Government is committed to Road Safety, effective implementation in a coordinated manner is lacking due to various agencies being involved. <\/p>\n
\u2022 The WHO and the U.N. General Assembly had rightly recognised the problem of Road safety as an Health Issue and even earmarked a day for Road Safety. <\/p>\n
\u2022 The U.N. Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 with the goal to reduce road deaths by 2020 is also being implemented by the Government. But still it has not gained the momentum needed for effective reduction. \u2022 Road Safety is also an environmental issue and has to be a part of the Millennium Development goal since reduction of accidents forms an essential part of improvement of environment and quality of life. <\/p>\n
\u2022 The impact of injuries affects the rate of economic growth. The development of public Transport and creating safe environment for those who walk or cycle is necessary for reducing road accidents and improving the air quality safety has to be an integral part of design and management of road Transport system as envisaged by the World Bank. <\/p>\n
\u2022 It is our request that the Rio +20 conference on sustainable development should also include Road Safety issues as part of agenda so that the decisions taken would give a fillip to the movement for Road Safety.<\/p>\n