[dZired]

Maruti Suzuki has released a Road Safety Index for 8 Indian cities. This index has been compiled by recording citizen views and organizing ground-level surveys in the said cities, in regards to various parameters like road infrastructure, emergency services, pedestrian safety, motor laws and traffic control. The 8 Indian cities rated for this first Road Safety Index are Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.

In the said index, Mumbai has been rated as the best city in pedestrian rights, motor laws & traffic control and ease-of-use for differently-abled commuters. The country's capital - New Delhi has aced the road infrastructure, road quality and connectivity parameters. Kolkata is the winner for road lighting and maintenance, Chennai gets the top-spot for emergency services, while Ahmedabad is the city with the best road cleanliness. Meanwhile, Bangalore was named the winning city in overall road safety parameter and Pune won the pollution control ratings.

Administrative bodies and representatives of the aforementioned cities were felicitated by Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping. This Road Safety Index is a part of Maruti Suzuki's India Road Safety Mission (IRSM). The automaker believes that the said ratings will serve as a reference point for administrative authorities of the rated cities to work on parameters that have scored poorly.

Link to Team-BHP News

[GTO]

Not saying this because I live in Mumbai, but this city has the best road manners of any metro in India. And I've driven in them all.

Mumbai drivers are generally well-behaved, stick to their lane (especially in autorickshaw-less South Bombay) & adhere to traffic rules (at least most of the time ). More than a couple of Mods visiting from other cities have commented on the same, including bblost who once rode down on his Bullet.

The worst road manners I've seen are in Calcutta.

[SmartCat]

This index has been compiled by recording citizen views and organizing ground-level surveys in the said cities. But I wish there was more information on the methodology used.

With a million intersections and a billion two-wheelers on Bangalore roads, I wonder how it topped "Road Safety".

Originally Posted by GTO

Not saying this because I live in Mumbai, but this city has the best road manners of any metro in India. And I've driven in them all. Mumbai drivers are generally well-behaved, stick to their lane (especially in autorickshaw-less South Bombay) & adhere to traffic rules (at least most of the time ). More than a couple of Mods visiting from other cities have commented on the same, including bblost who once rode down on his Bullet.

Odd. Perhaps I was in wrong part of the island. While driving in different cities, Chennai "feels" safe because of double-laned roads, flyovers and very few intersections. Mumbai "feels" quite unsafe because of aggressive drivers (cabs, autos, small CVs mostly)

[RohanDheman]

No surprise in seeing Delhi at the top for infrastructure and connectivity.

However, despite that infrastructure being in place and improved (constantly), what lets the road users down is the complete lack of respect by most of the people driving (riding) here for the rules/laws made and other people on the road.

I would have been massively surprised to see Delhi top the safety list- because the "tu jaanta nahin hai mera baap kaun" crowd ensures no one is safe on and off the road!

I have to agree that as far as pedestrian rights are concerned, Mumbai wins this hands down! Kolkata would have taken someone's hand down!

Cheers
Rohan

[Kiterunner]

Considering that Karnataka has the highest road tax in India, the big question that arise is - Why is Bangalore behind in 'Road Infrastructure' and 'Road Quality'?

[dailydriver]

Let me just say that I will take the result of this survey, in its reference to Bengaluru, with a handful (yes, a pinch won't suffice) of salt. I have driven/been driven around only in four of the eight cities covered in the survey.

Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai are any day better than Namma Bengaluru in terms of road infrastructure and traffic management.

Bengaluru, BMTC and KSRTC have been recipients of many prizes and honours in the past. But we all know what the hard realities at the ground level are.

Had Bengaluru not been declared as the best overall city in terms of safety, I would have had less qualms about accepting the result. Not for nothing is the Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation thread on team-bhp 919 pages long.

In a nutshell, I would join hands with ACP Pradhyuman of the CID fame and say that in this survey, Kuch to gadbad hain.

PS: My reservations are limited to Bengaluru's victory alone. Hence, congratulations to all the other winners!

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by Kiterunner

Considering that Karnataka has the highest road tax in India, the big question that arise is - Why is Bangalore behind in 'Road Infrastructure' and 'Road Quality'?

Most of the times government awards contracts for drainage and foot path works seldom for road repair or re- asphalting. Contractors find it very profitable on drainage and footpath works compared to road maintenance. Unplanned growth, road encroachments and poor quality of work are some of the factors why Bangalore is behind. Let us not start discussing on police department being short staffed or our good netas enforcing any good governance.

What ever taxes are being paid by us is not at all sufficient for the n number of "Bhagyas" the current government is offering.

[fordfreak]

I don't get how Kolkata managed to win the 'Road Lighting & Maintenance' category! The lighting on the roads here isn't bad, so that is fine. But the condition of our roads as well as the quality of maintenance/repairs done, leaves a lot to be desired. For starters, the repair/maintenance work seems to be never ending. The lack of proper planning/implementation also results in random repairs being made in places that are counterproductive (i.e. - recessed/protruding drains, protruding patches that act as speed breakers, etc.). Neither do the roads have any proper markings in most places.

For example, the Parama (also known as 'Maa') flyover. When it opened a little over a year ago, it probably had the best riding surface in the city. The authorities have already scraped off the top-layer and left it like that, leading to a bone jarring and loud ride. They have relaid a new layer on parts of the flyover which have made the experience of driving on it painful! The new surface used is the type that has stone chips sticking out on the surface (I don't know the correct technical name for this). And, there are no longer any lane markings.

Also, road manners, pedestrian rights/behavior, rule-following/implementation are getting worse by day. On a positive note, the cleanliness has definitely improved over the years.
If the prize was for continuous & never-ending maintenance, then Kolkata surely wins.

[MDED]

New Delhi being the capital city of India richly deserved to be on top of the list in terms of infrastructure. However, much remains to be achieved by the aggressive road users of Delhi who are unfazed or nonchalant towards basic road etiquette and are testament to frequent road rages.

Absolute kudos to the citizen, the cops and the authorities of Mumbai for ensuring ample pedestrian space, adherence to motor laws and yes the financial capital of the country is indeed walker friendly.

The results of Bangalore amaze me. Over the last decade I have seen Bangalore under construction for most of the time; resulting in dust, potholes, no potable drinking water and nightmarish traffic. In no other city there will be a speed braker where a flyover ends. Usually, while descending from the flyover, vehicles will be at a good speed and speed breakers are proven to be fatal. The transport department after collecting huge sums of money for registration of new vehicle has completely failed to address the issue of road safety, quality of roads and law enforcement.

Coming to the city of Chennai, which is my "Karmbhoomi", getting awarded for emergency services speaks volumes of its Traffic Management and the type of medical facilities available in the city. Though, the city is not at all pedestrian friendly and road users have no sense of personal safety (read helmet less, mirror less two wheeler riders), road users have tried accommodating any emergency vehicle. The Chennai City Traffic Police (CCTP) and the Chennai City Suburban Police also richly deserves accolades for ensuring the traffic is always moving, unlike some other neighboring cities wherein the vehicles remain at the signal for more than 5 to 6 minutes.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by smartcat

While driving in different cities, Chennai "feels" safe because of double-laned roads, flyovers and very few intersections.

Don't get lulled into a false sense of safety because of this "feeling", smartcat.

Even narrow main roads inevitably get double-laned in Chennai because they would turn into death traps otherwise. This means one has to be extra careful on those roads that are not double-laned. Also, life for cyclists & pedestrians can be hell on Chennai's roads. I don't know why Cyclist-friendly Roads was left out as a category. I hope they include it next time, along with EV-friendly Infrastructure!

Overall, I would tend to agree with the results of the survey that Chennai would emerge at the top only in terms of Emergency Services. Road Lighting & Maintenance and Road Quality are parameters where Chennai would do rather well, but perhaps not enough to top the charts.

[paragsachania]

Without an iota of doubt, I can easily vouch for Mumbai as the City with the most sensible mannerisms displayed by fellow motorists: Be that following lane discipline, Honking, Cutting lanes, respecting the Traffic lights etc.

Why just that, Mumbaikars are the fastest when it comes to crossing the toll booth too - For they know they what they have to pay and keep the change ready and so are the booth attendants who spot the drivers holding a particular denomination note and pass you the change even before you come to a dead halt while you continue in the same gear. Mumbai wins here. There is a lot that other cities have to learn from Mumbai.

Eastern expressway or Western Expressway: You would not spot trucks or slow moving vehicles hogging all lanes and slowing down traffic behind. Not just that, I like the way trucks are banned from entering from city outskirts during the day while they turn kings at night - Such balance is always needed.

It fares well on Pedestrian rights too - No surprise there. Just look at the way they have designed skywalks that run parallel to you for 10s of Kilometers (Kharghar, Airoli, Ghodbunder etc). I haven't seen any city that cares and comes up with such infrastructure for pedestrians. There are cities where even simple Pedestrian overbridges to cross the road takes years to complete even today.





Road Cleanliness is for Ahmedabad and I would rate that better too. If I look back 10 years, It wasn't that good but as of today, with BRTS and other projects implemented and operational, roads in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar are simply beautiful (clean). I won't talk about the Road manners in Ahmedabad though .

Road Lighting and Maintenance goes to Kolkota : Been there, done that Twice by road and I so agree on that aspect as well. The way Kolkota roads looked decked up at night under streelights was just beautiful. During both the drives, we were plain lucky not to have driven during day hours along with city traffic

Road Safety for Bengaluru: In a way, right inside the city, The roads are safe for a lot of reasons and one of them will undoubtedly be due to Speedbreakers at almost every intersection or a U-Turn which otherwise can be a potential accident spot. Other than this, the roads don't really permit you to drive fast due to its width and traffic density. Not to forget regular Drink and drive checks and Huge Police presence at almost every junction which is a rare right in some other cities (Pune).

Pune and Pollution Control? I am surprised there because this city (so called Tier II) is not having a huge population of vehicles when compared to the usual Metros but also a lot of 3 Wheeler Diesel Richshaws (3 and 6 Seater) that I have seen than any other city; Thanks to its inefficient Public Transport which itself has improved marginally better with their new fleet of buses but still a long way to go. I mostly see Pune score better on implementing road expansion projects as I have seen many tiny roads turn into 6 lanes by demolishing everything that is around it, something that I can only dream in Bangalore. Look at the all new ROB in Bangalore's ORR that can take just 1 Truck and a 2 wheeler on both sides while the ORR itself is 6 lane. Of course, there have been some issues of land sharing with the Armed forces but then why in the world we have a ROB that can't even take a Truck and a car side by side in each lane .

Delhi faring high on Road Infra - It was a cakewalk for that City with some very good roads.

[IshaanIan]

How exactly is bangalore leading in terms of road safety? There are potholes everywhere not just the side of the road but in the middle and fast lane as well, expansion joints on flyovers are not aligned, the cities obsession with mammoth speedbreakers means they can come up absolutely anywhere often not even painted white so they are invisible until the last moment, several deliberately poorly timed traffic signals that ensure cops may get to fine some extra folks, extremely ill thought out road rules for example the highway after hebbal, leading towards the airport, has two-way service lanes when the turn offs and traffic flow dictates that it ought to be one-way lastly, the majority of locals have a huge ego on the roads which means if they are driving at crawling pace in the fast lane and you honk them, they just turn and stare you down. I dont care what any report says, this city is absolutely not the leader when it comes to road safety IMO

[Kiterunner]

IMHO, public transport is closely related to road safety and should have also been part of this study. More the number of people using public transport, much safer our city roads will be.

Hope the Govt also takes this into consideration as they plan out action items for other categories.

As the Mayor of Bogota said, " A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation".

[abhishek46]

Bangalore is leading in overall road safety?

How on earth is that even remotely possible?

- Regularly, we see in the news about motorists dying in accidents due to Huge Potholes. We have all seen potholes. But, potholes in Bangalore will shame even the craters on Moon.

- Sudden appearance of dug up roads overnight on a freshly laid tarmac.
People drive at good speed on the fresh laid roads, only to find it dug up somewhere in between by irresponsible telecom companies.

- Motorists are found driving on footpath and have the audacity to horn the pedestrians. Several small accidents have also happened due to this show of extreme irresponsibility.

- Unscientific speed breakers. Hundreds of Motorists bear the brunt of this, due to pathetic visibility(no white marking etc.) and enormous size of many of the speed breakers.

- Overtaking from left side. It has become a norm in Bangalore.

- Hooliganism, wheel-ism & drag racing. In spite of curbs by Traffic policemen, this phenomena exists. One can find jokers doing these stupid stunts with rickety activas & dios on public roads with no action being taken.

In summary, either this survey is wrong OR the condition in other cities is worse (which is hard to believe).

[Chetan_Rao]

Thanks for the giggle!

In the city marked the leader in road safety, the roads themselves aren't safe from frequent unannounced mutilation by all & sundry utilities jokers. Road users being safe was probably not even a criteria for the study