New Delhi Declaration

• Establish a strong National Lead Agency or equivalent with mandate & capability to conduct root-cause crash analysis and implement targeted corrective and preventive measures with urgency.
• Integrate State Lead Agencies, District Road Safety Committees (DRSCs), and city bodies into one accountable operating framework with data driven hyper local interventions & transparent dashboards.
• Commit to annual public progress reviews aligned with measurable reduction targets at District & State Level.
• Ensure open, interoperable, and publicly accessible road crash data systems to enable research, accountability, and innovation.
• Integrate road crash response within national and state disaster management frameworks in alignment with NDMA guidelines.
• Ensure sustained, ring-fenced road safety financing aligned with risk exposure and vehicle density.
• Deploy trained Fellows/Volunteers, full-time coordinators across all DRSCs (800+ districts) and traffic wardens, voluntary assistance to local enforcement agencies.
• Strengthen enforcement capacity through adequate resourcing, training, and technology-enablement. Practice Graded penalty to repeat offenders up to cancellation of License.
• Align insurance premiums and licensing frameworks with risk behavior through standardized point-based systems, incentives for compliance, and disqualification of repeat offenders.

Principle: Road safety must have a clearly identifiable owner & provision for requisite resources at every level of governance.

• Prioritise India-specific risk categories: 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, buses, commercial and slow-moving vehicles need safer designs and strengthened stability.
• Adopt Assist & Alert technologies (Poka-Yoke principles) to prevent predictable errors.
• Enable secure, privacy-compliant access to connected vehicle data (V2V, V2X) for fleet safety enforcement.
• Eliminate counterfeit and sub-standard aftermarket components.
• Promote visibility and conspicuity solutions - sequenced as “Dekho-Ruko-Bacho.”

Principle: Technology and standards must compensate for human vulnerability.

• Embed road literacy, driving skills and life-saving protocols into education and habit formation through hackathons & Challenges themed on Road Safety (convergence with NEP in Schools)
• Enforce speed management, helmet use, seat belts, and right-of-way compliance at national scale.
• Leverage AI-enabled camera systems (street-facing and in-vehicle, public and private) and digital integration of V2V & V2X communications trails for crash research, predictive enforcement, skill improvement, and behavioral correction.
• Road Safety to be included as legal component within HSE compliance for businesses, industries, manufacturing units and residential complexes. Embed road safety into ESG frameworks, supply-chain standards, and corporate governance disclosures.
• Enable citizens to demand:
  • Safe and accessible crossings
  • Evidence-based speed limits
  • Night-time illumination and visibility
  • Dedicated infrastructure for Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs)
• Shift narrative from “Who is at fault?” to “Where did the system fail?”

Principle: Compliance must evolve into cultural norm.

• Build a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for mobility safety, enabling secure crash detection, auto trigger, data integration, and coordinated response through open source protocol - like UPI, Namma Yatri etc.
• Enable real-time crash alerts and unified emergency access.
• Scale basic & standardized first-responder training across communities and fleets to make Rah-Veer scheme a national success.
• Strengthen trauma care integration and seamless transfer protocols to make Cashless Treatment Scheme PM-RAHAT a National Success.
• Strengthen research collaboration among academia, industry, and government to accelerate evidence-based innovation.

Principle: Survival should not depend on geography or luck.

• Design roads prioritizing pedestrians, cyclists, and two-wheelers.
• Speed Management by Design, adopt safe system approach (Poke-Yoke).
• Slow city speeds through road design - not signage alone.
• Provide dedicated and segregated lanes for VRUs at high-speed corridors.
• Reduce conflict points via compact intersections and safe crossings.
• Ensure safe bus-stop placement and conflict-free institutional zones. Prioritize children, women, persons with disabilities, elderly citizens, gig workers, and rural communities disproportionately affected by road trauma.
• Replace car-centric planning with people-first, multi-modal design from first to last mile.
• Enforcement of IRC Codes and significant deterrence to be in pace against negligence at design, execution & audit stages by professionals & infrastructure providers.

Principle: Roads must forgive mistakes - not amplify them.