{"id":367425,"date":"2026-07-14T19:59:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T14:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=367425"},"modified":"2026-07-16T21:05:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:35:01","slug":"parliament-not-fate-must-shape-road-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/parliament-not-fate-must-shape-road-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament, not fate, must shape road safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/strong>: The post \u201c\u200bParliament, not fate, must shape road safety\u201d<\/strong> has been created based on \u201c\u200bParliament, not fate, must shape road safety\u201d<\/strong> published in \u201cIndian Express\u201d on 13 July 2026. Parliament, not fate, must shape road safety.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Parliament,<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus:<\/strong> GS 2 – Polity & Governance<\/p>\n

Context:<\/strong> Road accidents in India are largely preventable and therefore represent a failure of governance rather than fate. The Supreme Court in S. Rajaseekaran v. Union of India (2014)<\/strong> held that preventable road accident deaths are linked to Article 21<\/strong>, making road safety a constitutional responsibility.<\/p>\n

Constitutional and Institutional Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Inconsistent road accident data<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Different government agencie<\/strong>s report different figures for road accident deaths, creating uncertainty in policymaking.<\/li>\n
    2. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways reported 1.77 lakh<\/strong> road accident deaths in 2024.<\/li>\n
    3. The National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides Report<\/strong> recorded 1.75 lakh<\/strong> deaths.<\/li>\n
    4. The Crime in India Report<\/strong> of the National Crime Records Bureau recorded 1.81 lakh<\/strong> deaths.<\/li>\n
    5. These differences arise because each agency follows a separate reporting methodology.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Weak implementation of road safety measures<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. The Supreme Court found serious deficiencies in all the Four Es of Road Safety<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        2. Highway maintenance receives only 35\u201340%<\/strong> of the estimated funding, resulting in poor road infrastructure.<\/li>\n
        3. Traffic laws exist but are not enforced consistently across the country.<\/li>\n
        4. Public awareness regarding road safety remains inadequate.<\/li>\n
        5. Many accident victims die because ambulances are insufficient, trauma centres are lacking, and police stations often delay action due to jurisdictional disputes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Road safety is a constitutional issue<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. The Supreme Court held that road accidents are preventable because they result from human failures.<\/li>\n
            2. Preventable road accident deaths amount to a failure to protect the Right to Life under Article 21<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
            3. Accepting road accident deaths as inevitable reflects a failure of constitutional governance.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. Fragmentation of constitutional responsibilities: <\/strong>The Constitution distributes road safety responsibilities across different levels of government. National highways fall under the Union List<\/strong>. Roads, police and public health fall under the State List<\/strong> and Motor vehicles fall under the Concurrent List<\/strong>. This fragmented distribution prevents any single authority from taking complete responsibility for preventing road accidents.<\/li>\n
              2. Weak institutional accountability: <\/strong>Governments have mainly relied on committees, advisories and proposed boards to improve road safety. These institutions lack sufficient authority to ensure effective coordination and accountability among different agencies.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Reforms Required<\/strong><\/h2>\n
                  \n
                1. Establish a Road Safety Coordination Council: <\/strong>Parliament should establish a Road Safety Coordination Council<\/strong> on the model of the GST Council<\/strong>. The Council should enable the Centre and States to jointly frame standards for road design, vehicle fitness, emergency medical care and road accident reporting.<\/li>\n
                2. Amend the Seventh Schedule: <\/strong>Parliament should amend the Seventh Schedule<\/strong> to provide greater legislative authority over roads and traffic. Such an amendment would reduce constitutional fragmentation and strengthen accountability.<\/li>\n
                3. Create statutory District Road Safety Committees: <\/strong>Parliament should make District Road Safety Committees<\/strong> mandatory through legislation. These committees should be given clearly defined powers to monitor road safety measures. States that fail to implement road safety measures should face statutory consequences.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Conclusion:<\/strong> Road accident deaths should not be viewed as unavoidable tragedies because they are largely preventable. Strengthening constitutional coordination, institutional accountability and cooperative federalism is essential to protect the Right to Life under Article 21<\/strong> and significantly improve road safety in India.<\/p>\n

                  Question<\/strong>: Road accident deaths are a constitutional governance failure rather than an unavoidable tragedy. Discuss the constitutional and institutional challenges in ensuring road safety in India. Suggest suitable reforms.<\/p>\n

                  Source:<\/strong> Indian Express<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Source: The post \u201c\u200bParliament, not fate, must shape road safety\u201d has been created based on \u201c\u200bParliament, not fate, must shape road safety\u201d published in \u201cIndian Express\u201d on 13 July 2026. Parliament, not fate, must shape road safety. UPSC Syllabus: GS 2 – Polity & Governance Context: Road accidents in India are largely preventable and therefore… Continue reading Parliament, not fate, must shape road safety<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":367609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[212,10500,225],"class_list":["post-367425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-indian-express","tag-polity","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Parliament-not-fate-must-shape-road-safety.png?fit=1280%2C850&ssl=1","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}