US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx today said that it is "encouraging" to see the Government of India asking the "right questions" on the issue of road safety.
"What I see as encouraging is that the Indian government is asking the right questions about how India should go forward. Aside from the economics of vehicle safety, there is a real urgency around the issue of road deaths and injuries. We found that vehicle design can play a role in curbing it," Foxx told reporters here.
Foxx, the first US transport secretary to travel to India since 2005, said, "We had a rich conversation with the Railway Minister (Suresh Prabhu) and others about rail safety. It is clearly a focus area. There is a lot that we can share in terms of best practices in design, safety features, public education and technology."
"In the US, we deploy train control satellite-based technology which can help avert collisions that occur on railways," Foxx said, to a query about how US knowhow could help reduce thousands of deaths per year on Mumbai's suburban rail network.
"The Memorandum of Understanding (between India and the US) gives us a vehicle to share technology and best practices. Rail safety is very high on the list of issues," he said.
Replying to a query about US car manufacturers providing a different specification for the same model for the Indian market, Foxx said, "This has to do with standards."
"Manufacturers are going to adjust to whatever the standards are. In the US, we have set the bar very, very high and we don't apologise for that. Manufacturers who build and assemble vehicles in the US, have to meet those standards," he said.
