Dr. B. P. Chandrasekhar, Advisor SRRDA (AP) - Road Safety in ...

Policy for Road Safety in Rural Roads
Prof. B.P. Chandrasekhar
Technical Advisor, APSRRDA, GoAP
Formerly, Director(Tech),NRRDA, MoRD,
GoI
E‐mail: sekharbpc@gmail.com

Need for Road safety Management
Road accidents are mounting year after year becoming a
cause of concern to all stake holders.
Recently available data reveals that an estimated 1.3 million
people are killed around the globe and another 50 million are
injured in road accidents. Many of those involved in serious
accidents remain disabled for life and become liability to their
families.
Road accidents are the major cause of death of young people
in the age group 15‐29 years.
The global financial cost of road traffic injuries works out to
US$ 518 billion
Low and middle income countries account for 85% of globle
deaths from road traffic crashes.
In India about 41% of the fatalities are pedestrians, cyclists and
two wheeler riders.

Causative Factors for the Accidents
Road
Road user
Vehicle
Environment
Literature indicates that 65‐75 % of the road
accidents are due to HUMAN Error.
Hence, the target to the action plan for minimising
accident is the ROAD USER mostly.

Commonly Known Reasons
o Ignorance of Traffic Rules in driving.
o Not being trained scientifically.
o Intolerance and short temper.
o Lack of awareness to deal with
situations that arise suddenly in the
traffic steam.
o Attitude for rule breaking rather than
adhering to rules of the road.

Accident Prevention Strategy

Characteristics Traffic on Rural Roads
Normally the traffic coming on to the rural roads is
either generated traffic or converted traffic.
Drivers and other road users lack exposure and
awareness of rules and regulations or dangers
associated with traffic movement.
When rural roads are directly connected to NH or SH,
the drivers are ignorant about merging and diverging
process, increasing the risk of accident occurrence.
Many a time the drivers are not formally trained .
The traffic composition differs from that of other
higher order roads

Rural Roads Safety Concerns
Since Rural Roads are generally carry low
volumes of traffic and accident rates are
presently low, Safety issues mainly are with
respect to the Design and Construction features.
Further, Road Safety consciousness of local
residents become essential

Engineering Measures
Alignment Design with due consideration to
the terrain, obligatory points and the design
speed.
Examine the constraints, if any and adjust the
design, providing the required information to
the road users.
Providing necessary road furniture for guiding
the traffic
Rechecking the geometrics before grounding
the work

Engineering Measures ( cond.. )
Checking the geometrics at each stage of work
process.
Preparing alternate designs, if unforeseen
ground conditions are encountered during
construction in any particular stretch.
Continue construction as per the design with
frequent checks.
Carryout trail runs on the new facility before
opening to the regular traffic.

The Strategy adopted in PMGSY
DPRs are prepared as per a specially designed template with
the following detailing keeping safety as a primary parameter
•Planning and basic design considerations capturing the
inventory details along a strip, noting the features on either side
of the centre line of the proposed road. Digital photographs
taken for every 100m and further at any special feature like a
junction, culvert, curves etc. This is followed by coming with
preliminary design proposals that would require data to be
collected during the investigations.
•Defining the design speed and associated geometric parameters
.
•Alignment design covering all parameters in the horizontal and
vertical planes.

Strategy adopted in PMGSY(Contd)
Traffic Safety and management issues are given special
emphasis for designing a safe road. Particular attention is
given to design of junctions and curves.
Environmental concerns are taken note of and attended to.
DPRs ,thus prepared are subjected to series of checks by the
senior officers of the Executing Agency before forwarding
them to an Independent Third Party Audit ie State Technical
Agency (STA).
The STAs, normally reputed Engineering Institutions, check
the DPRs for optimal design, appropriate provisions,
including the safety requirements of the road and approve
the DPRs on‐line
THIS PROCESS ENSURES SAFETY ON THE PROPOSED RURAL
ROAD , INCLUDING THE SAFETY AUDIT AT THE DESIGN
STAGE

Strategy adopted in PMGSY
Safety Audit During Construction
During the progress of construction, the First and Second Tiers of
Quality Management System of PMGSY ensure that the design and
provisions made in the DPR are translated on to the ground. In case
any deficiency is noticed, immediate corrective measures are taken and
thus Safety is ensured.
During construction stage it self , Independent third party
engineers viz National Quality Monitors ( NQMs ) inspect the road and
examine all the elements and provisions. If any deficiency is noticed,
they give them on the spot in writing . Based on the observations, the
executive agency has to give an Action Taken Report (ATR) duly
attending to the observations and the rectifications carried out to get a
satisfactory grade for the work.
Thus, Traffic Safety is ensured wrt. Engineering Measures under
PMGSY

Rural Road Safety‐ provisions in the
PMGSY Guidelines
• At the central level safety issues will be addressed
through coordination with ROAD SAFETY MISSION of
MoRT&H.
• At the state, the State Quality Coordinator (SQC) at
SRRDA level and DPIU at the District level shall be
tasked by the State Govt. to coordinate with State
Level Road Safety mechanisms and programs, in
particular through membership of the State Road
Safety Council and District Road safety Committees
respectively, created as per the provisions of
section215 of the MV act,1988.

Provisions in the PMGSY Guidelines (Contd)
As a part of Rural Roads Development and maintenance
programs , the State Govts. shall ensure ROAD SAFETY
AUDIT of PMGSY works along with Quality monitoring. It
shall also ensure adequate involvement of Panchayat
Raj Institutions in road safety Awareness Programs.
Awareness raising activities, including publication of
pamphlets, Audio‐Visuals, Interactive Programs etc. will
be funded on the basis of annual proposals to be
forwarded for the clearance of the Empowered
Committee, along with road proposals.

Thank You

Engineering Measures in Design Phase
• Rural roads have to necessarily have a tortuous path, keeping in
view the narrow land width available. All the same, the horizontal
curves should be designed scientifically, conforming to the selected
design speed and terrain. The horizontal curves must be provided
with smooth transition curves and super‐elevation. The pavements
should be widened at curves.
• The vertical profile of the road should be designed such that the
required minimum stopping sight distance is available. Suitable
summit and valley curves should be provided.
• In hill roads, blind curves are a safety hazard. Suitable vision berms
may be cut at such locations.
• Passing places must be provided at convenient locations particularly
on hill roads.
• The provision of rural connectivity leads to the introduction of bus
services. Properly designed bus‐bays must be provided at bus stop
to ensure that the buses do not hamper the normal traffic.

Engineering Measures in Design Phase (Cont..)
• Where the roads pass through habitations and school, it is
necessary that the motorized vehicles travel at low speeds. This
can be ensured by providing adequately designed road humps or
rumble strips.
• The junction of rural roads with a main road is always a point of
conflict and an accident‐prone zone. Such junctions must be
designed scientifically by providing minimum turning radii, flaring
of the side road with taper, acceleration/deceleration lanes and
adequate sight distances.
• Ramps must be provided where field paths and cattle crossings
intersect the road.
• Traffic signages, incorporating warning and regulatory signs, can
enhance road safety, especially near habitations and school zones,
sharp curves, narrow bridges, junctions, submersible bridges and
causeways. The design must incorporate these.

Engineering Measures in Design Phase (Cont..)
• Hazard markers like reflectorised delineaters must be
provided at dangerous locations.
• Submersible bridges and causeways should be provided
with water depth gauges and guide‐posts that shall
remain at all times above the highest water level.
• 300mm dia ducts should be provided in the
embankment to enable cultivators to thread agricultural
wise pipes for irrigating their fields lying on both sides
of the road.

Safety During Construction Or
Maintenance Operation
Construction zones create an environment where the road
user is confronted with sudden obstacles and unfamiliar
conditions. Safety in construction zones must be enhanced
by:
•Warning the road users (in the appropriate language)
clearly and sufficiently in advance
•Providing safe and clearly marked lanes for guiding road
users
•Providing safe and clearly marked buffer zones and work
zones
o Barricades, drums, traffic cones, cylinders and signs around
work zones

Safety During Construction Or
Maintenance Operation (Cont…)
o Flagmen with red flags positioned to regulate and warn the road
users.
o Using construction machinery carefully and parking such
machinery at locations where they are not traffic hazards.
o Stacking construction materials such that only the quantity
needed for one operation is stacked along the road, and
obstruction to road users is minimized.
o Providing well designed temporary diversions as necessary so
that the essential traffic moves with the least hindrance. The
Contractor shall be asked to provide these as part of his work.
The bidding document and specifications shall elaborate these
requirements.

Road Safety During Use
The Head of PIU will be the District Rural Roads Safety Officer (DRRSO).
To ensure operational safety the DRRSO shall ensure that
•Routine maintenance of rural roads are regularly carried out.
•All safety issues out of maintenance inspection are properly addressed.
•In all cases of accidents and inquiry/investigation thereof, safety issues
are resolved, and a report is made to the SQC for examination whether
standard design features need to be incorporated in other rural roads.
•All resolutions of Panchayats regarding safety issues are acknowledged
and action proposed/taken intimated to the Panchayat.
•Road safety awareness camps are organised involving Panchayats, School,
Rural road users (inhabitants as well as drivers), in accordance with
programmes drawn up by the State Quality Coordinator.

Road Safety During Use (Cont..)
The State Quality Coordinator will be the State Rural Road
Safety Officer and shall ensure:
•Adequate coordination with the State Road Safety Council
and road safety programmes.
•Formulation of rural road safety awareness programme
proposals (for funding under PMGSY).
•Implementation and coordination of rural road safety
awareness programmes in the field.
•Hold quarterly meeting with DRRSO and take feedback for
improving safety standards.