Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) System

Why in news?

• As per the report, there were 4,12,432 unfortunate incidences of road accidents during 2021 which claimed 1, 53,972 lives and caused injuries to 3, 84,448 persons.
• This report has been developed by reporting, management, claim processing and analysis of road accident data by using the Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) system.

What is iRAD?

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and is funded by World Bank, to improve road safety in the country. 
• This will facilitate road accident data collection by 4 stakeholder departments; Police, Transport, Highways and Health Departments.
• Through a collection of road accident data from all over the country, a road accident database will be developed. The collected data will be analysed using different data analytics techniques for the identification of accident-prone areas and the causes of the accidents.
• The analysis output will be represented in appropriate dashboards, access to higher authorities of stakeholder departments and MoRTH. And accordingly, a strategy will be formed for the reduction of the number of road accidents in India and to enhance road safety.

 

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Q1) What is the new rule in highway code?

The 2022 Highway Code says that if pedestrians have started crossing the road and drivers want to turn into the road, pedestrians crossing have priority, and the traffic should give way to them.

Source: Ministry of Road Transport &Highways -Annual report ‘Road accidents in India — 2021’