Background In India road crashes and fatalities were 4,61,412 and 1.68 respectively, averaging 462 deaths per day or one death every three minutes. [Road Accidents, Report 2022, by MoRTH), showing an increase of 9% and 11.5% between 2021 and 2022. In 2022, 72.4 per cent of crashes and 75.2 per cent of deaths were recorded due to speed limit violation and over 50,000 people died in crashes involving two-wheelers as they were not wearing helmets. Similarly, around 77,386 children died in road crashes in five years (2018 to 2022).

Therefore speeding, two-wheeler safety and child safety are the main concerns of the network. Some leading Civil Society Organisation of India came together with GRSP and formed a Road Safety Network (RSN) to assist the Union Government and select state Governments in evidence-based policy framing and effective enforcement of key risk factors of Road Safety.

Objectives This programme aims to promote multistakeholder support to the central government for evidence-based comprehensive legal framework and policy making on the behavioural risk factors of road safety. Programmes aims to enhance the cross learning and sharing of experiences among the Road Safety Network (RSN) members to play an effective role in reducing the road crashes and deaths in the country. Purpose of the network is to achieve effective implementation of the following. (a) the Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) Act, 2019 and its central rules, (b) Advocating for national speed management guidelines, Child Safety Guidelines, and making a timebound National Road Safety Action Plan in line with the Decade of Road Safety Action Plan, 2030, (c) Strengthening of the National/State Road Safety Policy (NRSP), rules and regulations, (d) Setting up the National Road Safety Board (NRSB) for addressing speed management, vehicle safety and controlling behavioural risk factors, (e) Making Indian roads safer and reducing the road crashes and deaths towards zero.

Detail the programme design, implementation, and the strategies used.

The Road Safety Network (RSN), which is a voluntary coalition, was formed in 2019 by some civil society organisations working on the road safety and associated with the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP). The focus of the RSN is to leverage each other’s efforts and come out as a united voice to advocate for prioritising the road safety at national level and strengthening institutional and legislative framework. Network adopts a multi-pronged approach to strategically engage with the parliamentarians, national/state/city level enforcement officials, common road users and the mainstream media and social media for road safety policy and practice change. Network members organise stakeholder consultations, write opeds, articles on targeted issues, engage on social media and electronic media, engage with parliamentary committee on Trasport, and with various state governments and its road safety committees. RSN members keep meeting regularly to chalk out its future course of action and reviewing its progress and outcome.

Share the results of the programme, its impact, and lessons learned.

Frequent meetings, dialogues, and consultations of RSN members with more than 150 parliamentarians across the national and regional political parties resulted in to big consensus among them to support the road safety provisions of the newly introduced Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill, 2019.

This consensus helped in passage of the new road safety bill having more than 100 news provisions related to road safety. The new provisions of road safety in the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2019 made it one of the finest road safety acts globally.

While the new road safety act was under preparation, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) accepted several suggestions as new provisions relating to the behavioural risk factors, fixing the accountability of the road owning agencies, drug diving and others in the Bill, 2019.

Central Transport Minister participated in the RSN activities and announced some policy decisions related to the road safety targets and adopting global best practices. RSN members also successfully succeeded in advocating for a Rajasthan Road Safety Act, 2022 having several new road safety provisions. Currently the network has been advocating for the adoption of speed management guidelines; two-wheeler safety policy, setting the helmet standards for child helmet for 04–14 years of age, having child road safety policy and having effective national and state level road safety action plans.

RSN advocacy efforts are highly effective and complimentary in nature. The united voice is stronger and well recognised in different spheres of policy-making. Various capacities and capabilities of the network members have been leveraged. Network resources have been pooled together for communication purposes and better outcomes.

Logical bifurcation of states, national level issues and key risk factors to work. Network members have succeeded in successfully advocating some state governments to reform their road safety laws and better implementation of the same.

The RSN members have a clear division of roles and responsibility based on each other’s strength is very effective and rewarding.

Implications Discuss the potential for this programme’s approach to be applied or adapted elsewhere.

The India Network model was successfully replicated in Bangladesh by GRSP. The informal structure, network goal and objective setting, strategies, and approaches, achievements and best practices of India RSN were shared with the Bangladesh Road Safety network which is working well. Similarly, the RSN model of India can be replicated in other countries as well for effective stakeholder engagements, policy reach-out, better evidence-based policy making and efficient implementation of the road safety laws. The Civil society public advocacy efforts in India represent a good example to similar countries to contribute to reducing trauma and death on the roads.