Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday pitched for fixed duty hours for truck drivers, on the lines of airline pilots, to reduce road accidents due to fatigue.
The Minister discussed the matter at a meeting with new members nominated to the National Road Safety Council (NRSC). The council was also directed to hold a meeting every two months. The new NRSC was formed by the Ministry on July 28. In a tweet, Mr. Gadkari proposed “a policy to include On-Board Sleep Detection Sensors in Commercial Vehicles”, on a par with European standards. The Minister said he would write to Chief Ministers and Collectors to ensure that District Road Committee meetings were regularly held.
Trucks were responsible for the third largest number of fatalities (31,977) due to road crashes in 2019 after four wheelers (36,579) and two wheelers (36,213).
