In a bid to make Indian roads safer and curb fatalities, a global charity on Wednesday unveiled an India Road Assessment Programme (IndiaRAP) that will rate highways’ safety levels, and seek to eliminate the most unsafe roads.
“Local leadership is the key to life-saving success in all of our partnerships across 80 countries worldwide. As India invests in large-scale road upgrades across the country, maximising the safety of this investment will deliver strong transport, health and economic benefits,” said Rob McInerney, chief executive officer, International Road Assessment Programme.
Since 2010, teams from the global organisation have already undertaken star rating assessments on more than 10,000 km of roads across several states in India.
The ratings are assigned on the basis of the level of safety which is ‘built-in’ to a road for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. Five-star roads are the safest while one-star roads are the least safe.
The IndiaRAP programme is being supported by FedEx Express and will be hosted by the Asian Institute of Transport Development, and will work with government agencies as well as investors, researchers and NGOs to assess existing highways and promote the use of better design to make roads safer.
