GUWAHATI: A city-based NGO, Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum, Assam has teamed up with New Delhi-based organisation, to make recommendations to ensure the safety of migrants travelling by road during the national lockdown.
The recommendations made by the NGO along with Consumer Voice, New Delhi, were shared by the National Road Safety Network, a coalition of leading road safety experts and organisations from across the country, with the Union home secretary on Sunday.
The measures proposed include temporary lanes for cyclists and pedestrians on highways and urban roads, thorough briefing to bus drivers about emergency protocols, identifying rest areas where food and water can be provided to travellers, engaging drivers well-trained in long-distance driving and familiar with particular terrain.
The organisations have been maintaining a ‘road crash tracker’ to document road crash deaths and traffic violations during the lockdown from March 24, 2020 till date.
So far, 1,176 road crashes with 321 fatalities have been documented.
“We have submitted a list of 15 recommendations to ensure the safety of migrants travelling by road. The recommendations are aimed at mitigating specific risk factors like speeding, driving while fatigued, overcrowding etc. Some of the recommendations are specifically towards the safety of migrant workers returning home,” Ashim Sanyal, chief operating officer, Consumer Voice, said in a statement.
“Risk factors like speeding, driving while fatigued, not wearing helmets, etc continue to be responsible for fatalities across the states. Speeding on empty roads has been one of the most common reasons for road crash deaths across states. There is an urgent need to effectively enforce speed limits,” said Ajoy Hazarika, secretary, Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum, Assam.