Following Ireland's example, India too is successfully improving its road safety through competency testing of the drivers. The country has witnessed a shocking 1.1 million deaths in motor accidents over the last ten years. One of the major reasons behind this shocking number of road fatalities is the faulty driving style in almost every accident.
Coming to Ireland, the nation has been witnessing a large number of road accidents since a long time. However, over the last decade, Ireland has made significant progress to curb these fatalities through driver education, testing and improvement in licensing process. Back in 2006, Ireland put together the Road Safety Authority Act, which brought into the existence of a statutory body for road safety, christened as Road Safety Authority (RSA). A year later, RSA made competency testing and licensure compulsory for not only the common public but for driving instructors and commercial drivers as well.
In India, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways too follows a similar strategy, which focuses on education, enforcement, engineering and emergency care. The ministry is already working on improvements in the areas like ambulatory care, police enforcement of speed and impaired driving laws as well as public awareness.
The measures undertaken by the government include establishment of an independent professional branch, called Indian Road Congress (IRC). Being a federal country, state governments in India are responsible for enforcing road safety related laws like Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. These laws make it mandatory to test the competency of the drivers before issuing them license and checking if vehicles are up to mark, in terms of safety. It also involves frequent maintenance check of the Commercial Vehicles (CV) and examination of the same that whether it abides by the norms, which are set by the regulating authorities.
The implementation of competency testing and a motor vehicle licensure programme, which is based on India's four E's strategy, to improve the road safety can be extremely beneficial. Four E's strategy of road safety covers areas of Engineering, Education, Enforcement and Emergency Medical Services. It also ensures that the drivers possess sufficient knowledge, skills and certification in order to operate their vehicles in a manner that is safe for both the passengers and pedestrians.
Besides the competency testing, there are a number of educational and awareness campaigns being organised in the country using print and electronic media, like newspapers advertisements, cinema slides, radio jingles and television commercials. Children in India are also being made aware of the road safety regulations through calendars, posters, hand bills, stickers and games that convey direct messages to them. These merchandises are regulated and circulated by the Central government every year to state governments and NGOs. Also the first week of every year is celebrated as Road Safety Week in India.
