NHAI lays down procedures for extensive audits to enhance road safety

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has laid down extensive policy procedures for carrying out Road Safety Audit and responsibilities has been earmarked for all stakeholders for facilitating the audit and for the implementation of the recommendations.

The NHAI has been conducting safety audits on National Highways at the planning, construction, operations, and maintenance stages.

During FY 2021-22, NHAI undertook safety audit of 16,500 km of National Highways through safety auditors specialised in safe roads engineering studies and safety audit of 19,300 km was completed during this financial year till December 2022.

To ensure implementation of recommendation of Safety Audit, a web-based portal (Data Lake) has been developed at NHAI and 260 safety audit reports have been uploaded by the safety consultants on Data Lake, and are monitored for implementation by NHAI.

In addition, NHAI has made Third Party Road Safety Audit at Detailed Project Report (DPR) stage mandatory for all the projects. DPR for all new projects will be safety audited by a team of independent safety consultants, and the recommendations of the safety auditors will be taken into account during further stages of design.

Further, the safety review of the DPRs is undertaken by dedicated road safety officers at NHAI to ensure that all the necessary safety measures have been incorporated.

Improvement of junctions and provision of traffic calming measures where National Highways pass through habitations is also being undertaken systematically based on safety audits and accident data.

In FY 2021-22, safety mitigation measures have been undertaken on 6,179 locations and 2,015 locations in the current FY 2022-23.

Safety was improved at the junctions by installing lighting, road signs, safety barriers, pedestrian guard rails, rumble strips, speed humps on crossroads, speed cushions, transverse bar markings etc. to regulate and streamline traffic flow.

NHAI has initiated installation of Traffic Impact Attenuators to mitigate the severity of accidents with roadside hazards along National Highways.

Construction of passenger cross movement facilities in rural areas on the completed 4/6 lane National Highways has also been initiated.

Also, safe passenger crossing facilities such as Foot Over Bridges, Pedestrian Underpass, Pedestrian Subway, and Vehicular underpass has been provided at various locations across the country.

--IANS

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