Speaking at the function organized to launch the RSU campaign, Chandra Shrestha, professor of Transport Engineering and Management at NEC and managing director of NTDRC said the unit would be mobilized to collect relevant details on roads that need repair. The details would then be forwarded to the Department of Roads (DoR), Department of Transport Management, ministry of physical planning and the local development ministry.[break]
According to Nepal Police data, as much as 1,780 people lost their lives in road accidents in the last fiscal year. In the fiscal year 2010/11, 1587 fatalities were recorded. The data shows that at least five people lose their lives in road accidents every day.
“We are hopeful that analyzing major contributors to road accidents would be the most effective way to find out ways to ensure road safety,” said Shrestha.RSU would comprise of engineers, representatives from traffic police and other government officials.
According to SP Jagat Man Shrestha of the Nepal Police violation of traffic rules, drink-driving and poor road conditions are the major causes of road accidents.
Speaking at the function, Vice chairman of National Planning Commission Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry said involvement of experts to identify human errors and technical weakness would help find out ways to minimize road accidents.
Senior divisional engineers at DoR Saroj Kumar Pradhan and professor at the Queensland University, Australia Partha Mani Parajuli also presented their concept papers on how to make roads safer during the function.
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