Maruti Suzuki released a Road Safety Index for 8 Indian cities recently and it was compiled by recording citizen views and organizing ground-level surveys in all these cities keeping in mind with various parameters. The parameters included road infrastructure, emergency services, pedestrian safety, motor laws and traffic control. This Road Safety Index is a part of Maruti Suzuki's India Road Safety Mission (IRSM) and the automaker believes that the said ratings will serve as a reference point for administrative authorities of the rated cities to work on parameters that have scored poorly. The 8 cities rated under this index included Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. The names of winner cities were announced by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
While each city has its share of eccentricities, a thorough survey like this puts things into perspective and there were a few expected winners in the lot. While Mumbai featured on top for pedestrian rights, motor laws and traffic control and ease-of-use for differently-abled commuters while it was the national capital Delhi which scored a win for its connectivity, road quality and road infrastructure.
The city of Kolkata was declared the winner for road lighting and maintenance, while Chennai got the top-spot for emergency services. The city of Ahmedabad was adjudged the winner for the best road cleanliness while Bangalore was named the winning city in overall road safety parameter. The city of Pune won the pollution control ratings.
All these cities have the busiest of road networks at any point in the day and all are becoming cities that do not sleep. "Road safety is increasingly becoming a matter of national importance. As a leader in automobile industry we are working on inculcating safe driving habits among people through various training initiatives," said, RS Kalsi, Executive Director Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India
