New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS): Over 80 percent of India's population in metros believes that parliament should pass the road safety bill while over 90 percent say the passage of the bill would be a great initiative towards road safety, a new study said Wednesday.
The study - Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014: Public Satisfaction Survey -stated that the bill will help in ensuring safety of children while commuting and reforming regional transport offices.
According to the surveys by several NGOs, over 12 lakh people have been killed in road crashes in India in the past one decade.
Former home secretary G.K. Pillai released the report, which was jointly compiled by Save Life Foundation and Global Road Safety Partnership. Both the organisations work towards road safety with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The survey was conducted in 12 cities including Varanasi, Nagpur, Rohtak, Chengalpattu and Burdwan.
The survey also stated that in every city at least 3 out of 5 respondents felt unsafe while travelling on Indian roads.
People have cent percent supported the provisions in the road safety bill that makes it mandatory for all drivers to be trained before getting a license, protection for children while commuting, increased electronic enforcement and heavy penalties for not complying with traffic laws, and making it mandatory for all two-wheeler riders to wear helmets, said the report.
India's sole road safety law- the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 - failed to keep pace with the exponential growth of motor vehicles in the last two decades and consequent increase in road fatalities, said Pillai, who is also the trustee of the Save Life Foundation.
He said it was time India gets a road safety law which is comprehensive, inclusive, protects vulnerable road users and provides a structured approach to road safety.
Kelly Henning, director of public health programmes at Bloomberg Philanthropies said, India's road safety bill includes many important measures that are proven to reduce traffic deaths and injuries - critical for India, where the number of cars on the road is growing quickly.
The new law would make roads safer for everyone and prevent many tragedies, said Henning.