To keep a check on accidents and deaths related to it due to issues on the design of a road, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway is fast-tracking identification of black spots and corrective measures.
The ministry, with the help of its electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) project, has managed to identify black-spots in just three months from earlier four to five years.
Explaining the earlier process, a ministry official told News18 that so far the system was that the data is collected in bulk and it was analysed after three years.
“Black spots were identified based on previous three years’ data and then the corrective measures were taken. So, usually four to five years were lost in black-spot identification and then corrective measures used to take some more time,” they said, demanding anonymity.
After e-DAR, they added, the identification has become faster and now the ministry is able to analyse these black-spots within three months.
“As of December, the ministry has analysed the accidents and related black-spots till September 2023. In January, data from October will be analysed. Slowly, the Ministry will move on to a system where accidents happening in a month will be analysed the next month,” they added.
The next step after identification of black spots is taking the corrective steps — whether it is long term or short.
The official explained that depending on the type of issue, the corrective measure can take a few days to some months.
WHAT ARE BLACK-SPOT AND WHY THEY APPEAR?
Black spots are usually short stretches on a road where accidents and fatalities take place repeatedly. These spots are created on the road network due a number of reasons, including commissions and omissions in the development projects and changes in the road side environment.
They also appear due to changes in developmental scenarios in the region, including unplanned and unauthorised constructions on and near the roads.
“We believe it is our duty to avoid accidents that are taking place due to road issues. We can and should correct that and it is a very positive step in that direction,” the official added.
What is e-DAR?
The portal was part of the National Road Safety Policy, approved by the Union Cabinet in 2010. The policy outlines the initiatives to be framed and taken by the government at all levels to improve road safety in India.
Among the key aspects of the policy was a Road Safety Information Database, which provides assistance to states, UTs and local bodies to “improve the quality of crash investigation and of data collection, transmission and analysis”.
“The electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) Project has been initiated to establish a central repository for reporting, management and analysis of road accidents data across the country,” MoRTH informed a parliamentary standing committee in December.
How It Will Work
There is a mobile application for police personnel where they have to enter details about a road accident. They have to upload photos and videos as well. There is a unique ID for a particular incident, the official explained.
The details of the accident will reach an engineer from the Public Works Department (PWD) or the local body in the form of an alert on their mobile phone. The officials will visit the accident spot and examine it. They will record the road design and check if the road condition has any role in the accident. The project has been designed with the help of IIT-Madras and National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated.
“A database will be created with these details and will be analysed by a team at IIT-M. They will suggest if corrective measures in road design need to be taken,” the official added.
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