Tamil Nadu Announces Road Safety Mission After Highest Crash Count Among States

From mission to action: future of road safety in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu has announced the Chief Minister’s Road Safety Mission in the Assembly, with a reported annual allocation of about ₹500 crore. The announcement comes as the State confronts the highest number of road crashes recorded among all States in recently published 2024 data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

The MoRTH data records 67,526 road crashes and 18,449 fatalities in Tamil Nadu. Across India, the same data records 4,87,707 road crashes and 1,77,175 fatalities. These figures underline why road safety requires more than a series of separate interventions and why a coordinated, sustained response is necessary.

A response to a large and continuing challenge

The scale of the numbers places road safety among the public challenges that require sustained attention, coordination and dedicated resources. Tamil Nadu’s position in the data, particularly its highest number of reported road crashes among the States, highlights the urgency of bringing existing efforts under a common framework.

The proposed mission-mode approach is based on the understanding that road safety involves several departments, agencies and time frames. It is similar to the broader mission-mode approach used for complex public health challenges, where progress depends on coordination across agencies, measurable targets, continuous monitoring and sustained funding.

The Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG), as a member of the Road Safety Network, had earlier engaged with Tiruchi Siva, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, on the need for a National Road Safety Mission. The proposal was subsequently raised in Parliament by Mr. Siva earlier this year. The discussion around a national mission provides a wider context for Tamil Nadu’s announcement of its own Chief Minister’s Road Safety Mission.

Bringing existing institutions together

The Tamil Nadu announcement is an opportunity to strengthen and bring together road safety efforts already operating in the State. The announced measures include technology-enabled enforcement through ANPR cameras, the upgrading of government health facilities, and linking those facilities with accident-prone locations to strengthen emergency response.

Tamil Nadu already has multiple institutions, committees and initiatives working on different aspects of road safety. However, implementation is spread across Transport, Police, Highways/PWD, Health, Urban Development and other departments. The central value of the Mission, therefore, would be to bring these efforts together rather than allow them to operate as disconnected activities.

That common framework would need political ownership, shared targets, clear departmental accountability, sustained funding and regular review. The purpose would not be limited to announcing new measures; it would also be to connect responsibility, resources and results across the departments involved in road safety.

A Safe System approach

The Mission can provide a platform for a Safe System approach across Tamil Nadu. This approach would bring together policy and action on speed management, safer road infrastructure, safer vehicles, protection of vulnerable road users and children, effective enforcement, and post-crash and trauma care.

The focus would also need to extend to pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users, as well as safer school travel, driver and fleet safety, emergency care and post-crash response. These areas are part of the specific interventions that a State Road Safety Action Plan should cover under the Safe System approach.

A key principle of the proposed framework is that road deaths and serious injuries are preventable. Responsibility for safety must consequently be shared across the transport system, in alignment with the internationally accepted Safe System approach.

This also changes how departments should be assessed. Reviews should consider not only the activities undertaken, but also measurable outcomes in reducing fatalities and serious injuries. The emphasis on outcomes is important because completing an intervention does not by itself establish whether the risk has been reduced.

The need for a State action plan

A comprehensive State Road Safety Action Plan, or RSAP, would be a logical and important instrument for the Mission. It could provide a clear roadmap for implementation and translate the Safe System approach into specific actions.

The plan should establish clear, measurable targets for reducing fatalities. It should cover road infrastructure, appropriate speed management, safer vehicles, effective and risk-based enforcement, protection of vulnerable road users, safer school travel, driver and fleet safety, emergency and trauma care, and post-crash response.

The RSAP should also define the responsibilities of the concerned departments and agencies. It should identify the resources required, ensure sustainable funding, establish timelines, and provide for regular monitoring and independent evaluation.

The State plan should not remain a broad statement of intent. State-level priorities should be translated into district-level Road Safety Action Plans that reflect the specific risks and needs of each district.

This district-level structure could help connect broad policy with local implementation. Each identified problem should lead to a defined intervention, a designated agency responsible for implementation, a budget, a time frame and measurable indicators of progress.

Such a process would also address one of the persistent weaknesses in road safety: the gap between policy and implementation. A plan with assigned responsibilities, funding and timelines would make it possible to track whether decisions are being converted into action.

Using data to guide decisions

The Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) at IIT Madras, a think tank on road safety under MoRTH, has developed a comprehensive implementation framework called Data Driven Hyperlocal Intervention, or DDHI. To facilitate implementation of the programme, CoERS has deployed Sanjaya, an Integrated Road Safety portal.

The portal helps key stakeholders analyse data for decision-making and monitor implementation. It also provides an accountability platform with the ability to create data-driven action plans and track implementation across districts.

The approach brings together relevant data from police, transport, highways, health and other agencies. That information can be used to identify and prioritise risks, support evidence-based interventions and enable the government to track implementation across districts.

The value of linking these sources lies in connecting a specific risk with a specific response. Under this approach, each identified risk could be connected with the proposed intervention, the responsible agency, funding, a timeline and the expected outcome.

Periodic reviews could then assess more than whether an intervention has been completed. They could examine whether the intervention has actually reduced risk, crashes and serious injuries. This would give the Mission a way to measure progress against outcomes rather than relying only on records of activities completed.

From announcement to measurable action

The combination of a State Road Safety Action Plan and the Sanjaya platform could turn the Mission from a policy commitment into coordinated, evidence-based action. It would also provide a structure for aligning departments, assigning responsibilities and measuring results.

Tamil Nadu has an opportunity to demonstrate how existing road safety initiatives can be brought together under a coordinated, measurable and outcome-oriented Safe System Mission. The immediate priority is to give the Mission a clear framework, including a comprehensive State Road Safety Action Plan integrated with the Sanjaya platform.

The experience could provide a model for a similar Mission approach at the national level and in other States. That possibility is linked to the broader need for road safety action that is sustained, coordinated and supported by measurable outcomes.

The larger challenge is not necessarily the absence of road safety initiatives. It is bringing policy, institutions, funding, implementation and accountability together under one sustained Mission framework to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

Dr. Venkatesh Balasubramanian is Professor, Department of Engineering Design, and Head: RBG Labs & Centre of Excellence for Road Safety, Indian Institute of Technology Madras. S. Saroja is Executive Director, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group, Chennai.

Source: The Hindu