Haryana Becomes First Indian State to Adopt a Vision Zero Approach Towards Road Safety
Over 300 people attended the launch of Haryana Vision Zero in Gurgaon organised by the Government of Haryana in partnership with WRI India and NASSCOM. Participants included senior government officials from various departments like the police, transport, municipal corporation; and others from the private sector, civil society, and academia.
Haryana Vision Zero is a campaign aimed at reducing road traffic deaths in the state and was launched by Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, Transport Minister, ML Pawar, PWD Minister, Narbir Singh, and India Vision Zero Brand Ambassador, Milind Soman. An MoU was signed between the Government of Haryana, WRI India, and NASSCOM to take this initiative forward.
Signing of #MoU at #HRYVisionZero | Working towards the #VisionZero approach in #Haryana. @HRYVisionZero pic.twitter.com/SYWDCmsou7
— WRI Cities India (@WRICitiesIndia) May 2, 2017
Haryana is the first state in India to adopt a Vision Zero approach to road safety, which prioritises human life above all else. This will contribute to India’s commitment as part of the Brazillia Declaration which intends towards reducing road traffic deaths by 50 percent by 2020.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Khattar emphasised that the state would take concrete measures to implement this approach, and would like to bring the number of road traffic fatalities down to zero. He stressed on the need to reduce road traffic crashes using strategies to improve road design and check road rage and drunken driving.
At the launch of "Haryana Vision Zero", an initiative for the promotion of Road Safety in Haryana. pic.twitter.com/kzugKnTnPh
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) May 2, 2017
Milind Soman, model and actor, became the Brand Ambassador for India Vision Zero at the launch of this initiative last year, and has since been actively promoting issues related to road safety. He stressed on the importance of good infrastructure, and highlighted the need to have walkable footpaths and segregated cycle tracks on all roads in the city.
In Gurugram tomorrow !! to launch @HRYVisionZero @PandaSarika @CMOHaryana pic.twitter.com/ap8nYkb4Rt
— Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning) May 1, 2017
In order to achieve Vision Zero, WRI India and NASSCOM will start by developing a road safety action plan for the state of Haryana. In addition, each district will appoint a road safety associate, a person who will be responsible for implementing Haryana Vision Zero in that district. In the first year, the team will work with 10 districts, and by the end of the second year, all 21 districts in Haryana will be covered.
Closing plenary of #HRYVisionZero with @cmohry @RaoNarbir and @milindrunning pic.twitter.com/AQ8m1ytXgn
— NASSCOM Foundation (@NASSCOMfdn) May 2, 2017
