New Delhi,  Global road safety body International Road Federation (IRF) has urged the authorities to take remedial actions to remove black spots on highways across the country to prevent accidents.

"We urge the union and the state governments to make every possible effort to change the road safety culture while establishing clear road safety norms. Global agencies involved in road safety have blamed lack of policies and enforcement as the main reasons behind increasing road fatalities in the country." Said Satish Parakh, President, International Road Federation (IRF) India Chapter.

IRF has expressed deep concern on the demise of an eminent businessman Cyrus Mistry in a road crash near Mumbai on Sunday.

India is a signatory to the United Nations Decade of Action plan for Road Safety across the world which aims to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent by the year 2030.

"Apart from road engineering, ITF also expresses concern at vehicle safety as despite being an expensive SUV, it failed to save the passengers. Road safety depends on five "E's --education, road engineering, vehicle engineering, enforcement and emergency care" , said Parakh.

"India accounts for more than 11 per cent of the road accidents deaths worldwide with 426 lives lost every day and 18 every hour. Over 1.6 lakh lives were lost in the year 2021 and most of the road accident deaths are avoidable. We condole the untimely demise of Cyrus Mistry. But would also like to draw the Union and state government's attention towards the increasing number of fatal road accidents in the country..." said K.K.Kapila, President emeritus, IRF.

"We urge the union government and the various state governments to fix killer accident prone black spots in various parts of the country. These black spots, which are accident sites, where accidents occur again and again can be rectified," said Kapila.