Road safety campaigners, civil society members and doctors, among others, have called on the government to take urgent steps to improve road safety in Nepal.

In a joint petition addressed to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, they urged the government to pass the Road Safety Bill from Parliament, endorse the National Road Safety Strategy and establish the powerful Road Safety Council without further delay.

“In a tragic incident, two passenger buses were swept by massive debris into the Trishuli river. While nearly 20 bodies have been recovered so far, the rest of the passengers remain missing. We call upon the government to ensure that such incidences do not repeat,” they said in the joint petition made public on Sunday.

A group of nearly 50 civil society members, including former diplomats, actors, doctors, professors, transport engineers, writers, journalists and experts from various sectors signed the letter addressed to the prime minister.

According to Nepal Police, nearly 24,000 people have lost their lives in road crashes over the past decade, while 72,000 more were seriously injured. According to the Ministry of Health and Population’s record, nearly 100,000 survivors of road crashes have been treated in various hospitals and health centres across the country in one year.

In its latest report, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 8,500 people die in road accidents in the country every year. Likewise, a study by the World Bank showed that Nepal has been facing an annual loss of nearly three percent of the national GDP due to road crashes.

The petitioners have also called upon the government to recruit at least 7,000 additional traffic police personnel or traffic inspectors across the country, improve the quality of roads, and implement strict road safety laws, including mandatory use of motorcycle helmets.

They have also called upon the government to set up vehicle fitness testing centres and introduce motor test certification, form a task force to review the national public transport policy, introduce an integrated and scientific transport based on a safe systems approach, enhance the capacity of driving schools, set standard for the quality of buses, conduct road network mapping and road safety audit across the country, among other measures.

The petition has also called for setting up 24-hour CCTV surveillance on high-risk highways and arterial roads, enforcing laws against drink driving and use of substances while driving, setting up vehicle fitness testing centres in all major cities of the country, devising strategies and protocols to conduct the search, rescue, treatment and rehabilitation of victims in the aftermath of road crashes.

The petitioners have also called upon Prime Minister Oli to direct the agencies concerned to introduce Star ratings of schools, roads, and vehicles based on road safety performance and introduce procedures to prioritise vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchair and white cane users.

They have also called for introducing an international driving permit (IDP), revising the Health Insurance Act to cover the treatment of victims of road crashes, introducing unlimited insurance and free legal assistance for road crash victims, and ensuring living wages for transport workers along socially appropriate safety measures.

The petitioners have said that enforcement of strong road safety measures will not only help the country's economic progress but it would also help promote tourism and give the country a positive image on the world stage.