[dZired]

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has announced a new format for reporting road accidents in the country. This new format is aimed at making it easier to understand the cause of an accident by analysing the recorded data. This is a part of the central government's efforts to minimize the number of accidents on Indian roads.

Policemen visiting the accident site are currently required to just record basic facts about the mishap, including where and how did the accident take place, details about the persons involved and their statements. These accident reports are often seen to be inaccurate and incomplete as they don't help much to understand the real cause of an accident.

In order to mend this limitation, the government has now approved a new reporting format which will be implemented across the country. This will require the policemen to record detailed information about an accident site. This includes details about the condition of road surface, any underway road construction, type of traffic control around the site, etc. Once these details are recorded, they will then be shared with the road ministry, which will take required steps to eliminate any infrastructure-related error that is causing accidents.

In order to make sure that the policemen are able to easily record the required details, the ministry is planning to organize a workshop to describe the steps that need to be followed to report an accident in the new format.

Source: Hindustan Times

[Vinodh_Gowda]

Originally Posted by dZired

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has announced a new format for reporting road accidents in the country. This new format is aimed at making it easier to understand the cause of an accident by analysing the recorded data. This is a part of the central government's efforts to minimize the number of accidents on Indian roads.

Source: Hindustan Times

Good move rather initiative from the government even though we need to wait and see how the actual implementation takes place. It's late but then better late then never. Considering the road conditions is an important aspect and if the details are logged and acted upon appropriately then it surely will reduce the number of road accidents in our country. Also, proper implementation of these measures might as ensure that the road contractors go about their work in a proper way rather than taking short-cuts and getting away with sub-standard repair works.

[SS-Traveller]

So, without using the expertise of intensively trained professional crash investigators, the government intends to offer half-baked short-term workshop training to already overworked and ill-educated policemen, and make them investigate and report crashes... err... accidents.

There will certainly be plenty of clarity in such new format of reporting... as much as lighting a candle improves visibility in the notorious North Indian winter fog at midnight.

[racer_ash]

I think rather than a subjective view of such incidents, the GOI must try to implement more objective ways of recording these incidents. One idea that comes to my mind is the implementation of checklists to record these details.

This will eliminate human emotion from the site and help garner more unbiased views of the incidents. This would also make it easier for data mining and analysis.

Recording of the road conditions and road engineering works are IMHO not something the Police can be entrusted in doing and neither do they have the expertise to do it. This should be undertaken by an independent third party assessor.