Ruling reserved on PIL for road safety

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a public interest litigation petition seeking directions to the Centre and States for improving road conditions, infrastructure, traffic laws and medical facilities and making enforcement effective to prevent accidents.
The petitioner, Common Cause, said poor road conditions in most parts of the country were the major cause of accidents. It cited newspaper reports that Tamil Nadu, followed by Andhra Pradesh, had the highest accident deaths. It said speed governors should be mandatory for commercial vehicles like trucks and speed restrictions enforced. Speed-breakers should be properly marked and video recording of a crossing or signal or section of a road, prone to accidents, should be done.
In its response, Tamil Nadu said the percentage of fatal accidents in relation to the total number of vehicles in the State was less than one and this was falling over the last few years. Road safety was much better than other States.
In its reply, the petitioner said the information gathered from various sources indicated that the State recorded the highest number of road accidents. It was therefore essential that the State constantly review the situation and assess the adequacy of measures.
A Bench consisting of Justices H.K. Sema and Markandey Katju reserved verdict at the conclusion of arguments by Prashant Bhushan, counsel for the petitioner.
THE HINDU; Legal Correspondent