Road ministry adopts IIT Madras' data-driven model for improving road safety

A data-driven road safety model created by researchers at IIT Madras has been officially adopted by the Road ministry with funding from the World Bank. Over 32 states and Union Territories will use the Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) model developed by the institute to help make the roads safer and improve emergency response.

The IIT team has signed agreements with various state governments to help them develop a road map towards reaching the goal of reducing road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2030 and eventually reach the target of zero deaths from road traffic accidents. The institute will also help states build strategies and implement work packages for all stakeholder departments to work on safe roads.

Under the project, the team has created a mobile application that will enable police personnel to enter details about a road accident along with photos and videos. Each incident will then get a unique ID, after which an engineer from the Public Works Department or the local body will receive an alert on their mobile device. The engineer will then visit the accident site, examine it, and feed the required details such as the road design.

Following this, the team at the engineering institute will analyse the data and suggest corrective measures in road design. “Therefore, it is quintessential to develop a good strategy based on data," Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Professor at Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, told PTI.

Elaborating on the project, Giridhar Aramane, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, said, “iRAD is one of our flagship road safety initiatives... It has enabled structured accident data collection involving all stakeholders. This is a single platform being implemented across India."

In its pilot phase, the project was launched for six states with highest fatality rate in road crashes - Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. "However, (now) as many as 27 states and five Union Territories across India are in various stages of implementing Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD)," Balasubramanian said.

(with inputs from PTI)

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