THE MIZORAM ROAD SAFETY POLICY
I. Preamble
1. The Government of Mizoram is deeply concerned about the growth in the number of road accidents, injuries and fatalities in recent years. It recognizes that road accidents have now become a major public health issue, and the victims are mainly the poor and vulnerable road users.
2. The Government of Mizoram further recognizes that as road accidents involve roads, motor vehicles as also the human beings, road safety needs to be addressed on a holistic basis. It also recognizes that regardless of jurisdictions, the Central and State Governments have a joint responsibility in reducing the incidence of road accidents, injuries and fatalities.
3. In Mizoram, the vehicle population has reached 329893 on March, 2025. According to iRAD there are 481 nos. of accidents between 15th September, 2021 to 21st March, 2025, out of which 183 people lost their lives which covers 38% of the total number of accidents. This is a great concern for the Government and felt that road safely has to be addressed in a holistic manner.
4. The Government of Mizoram, through this State Road Safety Policy, states its commitment to bring about a significant reduction in mortality and morbidity resulting from road accidents based on the following principles:
- A political commitment, across all Departments concerned, to deal with road accidents.
- A broad strategy, involving education, engineering, enforcement and emergency to deal with accidents.
- A clear vision and numerical targets for reductions in the different categories of accidents.
- A concrete plan with specific measures for implementation and enforcement.
- Institutional co-ordination within and between different levels of government and with private sectors.
II. Vision: Towards zero together.
The vision aims to achieve transport systems with no fatalities or serious injuries in road traffic. A core principle of the vision is that “Life and Health can never be exchanged for other benefits within the Society.” It is the belief that death and injury on the street are preventable. For the most part, there are no ‘accidents,’ but a result of poor behavior and unforgiving poor road designs. So we must approach it from multiple angles of 4 E’s, viz:-
- Enforcement: Effective implementation and enforcement of all existing laws and norms including provisions of MV Act and amendment of the existing laws will have a distinct impact on reduction in road accidents.
2. Engineering: A road network having safe infrastructure elements and designs result in substantial reduction in road accident/fatalities.
3. Education: Road Safety education and public outreach will help people move more safely whether they are driving, walking, bicycling or taking transit. Effective Road Safety Education creates a common set of expectations and change behavior, resulting in safer, more live-able roads for all.
4. Emergency: Providing efficient and effective Emergency Medical response and quick treatment will reduce fatalities.
III. Policy Statements
In order to achieve a significant improvement in Road Safety, the Government is committed to:
(i) Raise Awareness about Road Safety Issue
The Government will increase its efforts to promote awareness about the various aspects of road safety, the social and economic implications of road accidents and what needs to be done to curb the rising menace of road accidents. This would enable and empower the different stakeholders to play a meaningful role in promoting road safety.
(ii) Establish a Road Safety Information Database
The State Government will work to improve the quality of crash investigation and data collection transmission and analysis based on iRAD/ e-DAR
(iii) Ensure Safer Road Infrastructure
The Government will take measures to review standards pertaining to safety in the design of rural and urban roads and bring them in consonance with national best practices keeping in view of traffic conditions in the State. Ensuing application of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) to establish a safe and efficient transport system will be encouraged.
(iv) Safer Vehicles
The Government will take steps to ensure safety in usage, operation and maintenance of both motorized and non-motorized vehicles in line with international standards and practices in order to minimize adverse safety and environmental effects of vehicle operation on road users (including pedestrians and bicyclists) and infrastructure.
(v) Safer Drivers
The Government will strengthen the system of driver licensing and training to improve the competence and capability of drivers.
(vi) Safety of Vulnerable Road Users
The design and construction of all road facilities (rural and urban) will take into account the needs of non-motorized transport and the vulnerable and physically challenged in an appropriate manner. The Government will seek to disseminate ‘best practices’ in this regard to town planners, architects, and highway and traffic engineers.
(vii) Road Traffic Safety Education and Training
Road safety knowledge and awareness will be created amongst the population through education, training and publicity campaigns. Road safety education will also focus on school children and college going students, while road safety publicity campaigns will be used to propagate good road safety practices among the community. The Government will encourage all professionals associated with road design, road construction, road network management, traffic management and law enforcement to attain adequate knowledge of road safety issues.
(viii) Enforcement of Safety Laws
The Government will take appropriate measures to strengthen and improve the quality of enforcement in order to ensure effective and uniform implementation of safety laws. The Government will actively encourage the establishment and strengthening of Highway Patrolling on National and State Highways.
(ix) Emergency Medical Services for Road Accidents
The Government will strive to ensure that all persons involved in road accidents benefit from speedy and effective trauma care and management. The essential functions of such a service would include the provision of rescue operation and administration of first aid at the site of an accident and the transport of the victim from accident site to nearby hospital. Hospitals alongside the National Highways and State Highways would be adequately equipped to provide for trauma care and rehabilitation. It will also implement guidelines for protection of the Good Samaritan/bystander.
(x) Research for Road Safety
The Government will encourage activity in programmes of Road Safety research by identifying priority areas. The Government will facilitate dissemination of the result of research and identified examples of good practices through publication, training, conferences, workshops and websites.
eDAR- Electronic Detailed Accident Report:
The eDAR project is an initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). eDAR is an application to Collect, Store, Manage, Analyze, Interpret & Visualize Accident information. Through eDAR, the Government of Mizoram aims is to improve road safety by collecting, storing, managing, and analyzing road accident data, ultimately leading to better road engineering, faster claim settlements, and reduced road fatalities on participation of its stakeholders.
(xi) Strengthening Enabling Legal, Institutional and Financial Environment for Road Safety
The Government will take appropriate measures to ensure that the required legal, institutional and financial environments for Road Safety are further strengthened and a mechanism for effective coordination of various stakeholders is put in place. The reforms in these areas would provide for the active and extensive participation of the community at large, of the private sector, academia and NGOs.
IV. Implementation Strategy
The Government has decided to establish a dedicated Authority viz. a State Road Safety Council to oversee the issues related to road safety and evolve effective strategies for implementation of State Road Safety Policy.
