Maharashtra Road Safety Network: Make schools near major roads safer for children

The proximity of schools to high-speed traffic corridors increases the risk of crashes. Representation Pic

The Maharashtra Road Safety Network has written to the state government urgently calling for all schools situated within a 500-metre radius of state and national highways to be declared as "black spots". This aims to prioritise road safety interventions in these areas to protect our most vulnerable road users: children.

"The proximity of schools to high-speed traffic corridors significantly increases the risk of crashes, endangering the lives of students, parents, and school staff. Recent data indicates a disturbing trend of crashes and near-misses around these educational institutions, underscoring the need for immediate action. In Maharashtra, 454 children died due to road crashes in 2022, according to a recent Maharashtra Highway Traffic police report," Ranjit Gadgil, programme director (Parisar) said.

Parisar has been working towards sustainable urban transport, road safety and air pollution, pedestrian safety, heritage preservation, etc and is a member of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Network (SUM Net) and Road Safety Network (RSN) which are national coalitions of NGOs, CSO, education institutions and road safety experts working with the office of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the state transport department and municipal corporations.

"We undertook a participatory Road Safety Audit (RSA) of school zones, with the School Transport Committee (STC) at the Zilla Parishad Primary School, Shikrapur, Pune district, which revealed a very high-risk situation for school students and caregivers located near any highway.

There is a need for immediate action based on scientific RSA and Indian Road Congress guidelines for school zones on highways. Stakeholders must give top priority to schools located near any high-risk areas and make them safer by implementing and managing ‘safer systems' in order to make access to education safer for our young citizens.

We urge the government to prioritise this initiative and allocate financial resources for the provision of cycling and walking facilities for children to protect our future generations" Sandeep Gaikwad, senior programme associate, said.

Key points of the letter

High-risk zones: Schools located near highways face heightened risks due to high traffic volumes and speeds. Declaring these areas as black spots will ensure they receive targeted road safety measures

Indian Road Congress design standards: All schools located within a 500-metre radius of state and national highways on both sides should be designated as black spots for road safety interventions, which must be based on statutory Indian Road Congress design standards

Comprehensive safety interventions: These include implementing traffic calming measures such as speed breakers and humps, rumble strips and driver feedback signs to reduce vehicle speeds.