KATHMANDU, Feb 18: The task force formed by the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) in order to reduce road accidents has proposed to provide a separate license for public transport vehicle drivers. The task force known as the Transportation Improvement Suggestion Task Force was formed to recommend measures for reducing road accidents.

The task force formed under the coordination of Sharad Chandra Paudel included Bigyan Raj Sharma (former Additional Inspector General of Police), Padam Shahi, Madhusudan Acharya, Bijay Gautam, Bijay Swar as members. The Director General of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) was an ex-officio member of the task force. The task force submitted its report to Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala in January.

The report suggested arranging a 'professional driver's license' for driving public vehicles. The task force suggested that the provision of special training to get a professional driver's license should be included in the law.

It is also proposed to arrange for an 'ordinary license' (non-professional driver's license) for drivers other than public vehicles. For this, amendments to the Vehicle and Public Transport Act and Regulations were proposed to harmonize the framework for both professional and non-professional driving licenses. The report emphasizes the need for a separate system for issuing and renewing these permits.

Under the suggested regulations, only individuals possessing a professional driver's license would be permitted to drive public vehicles, and they would be required to adhere to prescribed dress codes while doing so.

It has also been suggested in the report that public vehicle drivers should be provided with identity cards, and special training should be arranged for public vehicle drivers. Shahi, a member of the task force, emphasized that the recommendations given in the report should be gradually implemented by the government.

The task force has suggested to ensure periodical examination of the driver's health and mental condition for professional vehicle driver's license, to maintain the validity period of such license for 10 years, to conduct health check every year and to arrange suspension if found unfit.

The report suggested that the renewal period of the license should be maintained for 10 years even in the case of drivers who have a non-professional license.

The report suggests granting driver's licenses only after the trial test at designated centers and driving on public roads.

The report mentioned that Nepal suffered financial losses equal to Rs 1.73 billion due to road accidents in the fiscal year 2018/19.

In the report, it is estimated that low and middle-income countries suffer about 5 percent of their gross domestic product due to road accidents. Moreover, injuries caused by accidents cause economic hardship at all levels of the state. Accidents cause personal medical expenses, loss of employment and productivity, impact on families and damage to public property.

Therefore, the report mentioned that road accidents have caused a large amount of damage to national health and economic conditions. According to the report, the number of people injured in road accidents is more than the number of deaths. The average number of people injured in road accidents in Nepal annually is at least 11,000. This number is increasing every year.

In the fiscal year 2022/23, the number of people who died in road accidents was 8.03 percent, while the number of injured was 91.07 percent. According to the report, 20.29 percent were severely injured.

 
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