New Delhi

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, called on megastar Amitabh Bachchan at the latter's residence in Mumbai on Thursday and sought his support for the National Road Safety Mission.

The Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on four Es -- education, engineering, enforcement and emergency care. While the number of accidents have recorded a declining trend in the last few years, government data said that a total of 3,48,279 persons were injured in 3,66,138 road accidents across the country during 2020, leading to 1,31,714 deaths.

To create effective public awareness about road safety, the Ministry has undertaken various publicity measures and awareness campaigns on road safety through social media, electronic media, and print media. Further, the Ministry implemented a road safety advocacy scheme to provide financial assistance to various agencies for administering road safety advocacy. Apart from this, road safety has been made an integral part of road design at the planning stage.

Road safety audit of all highway projects has been made mandatory at all stages including design, construction, operation and maintenance. Moreover, high priority has been given to identification and rectification of black spots (accident prone spots) on National Highways and guidelines for pedestrian facilities on National Highways for persons with disabilities have also been issued to all the states and UTs.