GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court has directed all states and Union territories to formulate and implement detailed protocols within six months to ensure immediate assistance for road accident victims.
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According to a BarandBench report published on Thursday, April 17, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed concern over the rising number of road accidents and the lack of timely response mechanisms. It emphasised the need for a uniform yet adaptable framework that takes into account the differing local realities across the country.
The bench observed that in several instances, accident victims remain trapped inside vehicles without sustaining external injuries, and the absence of swift response infrastructure hampers timely rescue. “The issue is to develop a machinery to ensure swift response in case of accidents,” the court remarked.
In response, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) submitted a note to the court detailing measures undertaken to address the issue. The bench, in response, directed that this note be shared with state transport departments and asked NHAI to submit an affidavit within six months outlining actual implementation steps taken. States and UTs were also advised to consider the NHAI protocol as a guiding framework when drafting their own response mechanisms.
The court further highlighted the lack of appointments to the National Road Safety Board, which is mandated under Section 215(B) of the Motor Vehicles Act. Therefore, the central government was instructed to file an affidavit disclosing the outer time limit by which the board would be constituted.
The court also asked NHAI to consider using real-time data to track average vehicle speeds between toll booths to improve enforcement against speeding.