New Delhi, August 21, 2026: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Road Safety Board (NRSB) held an institutional meeting at NHAI headquarters in New Delhi to undertake a comprehensive review of road safety systems across the national highway network.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Nitin R. Gokarn, chairman of the National Road Safety Board, and NHAI chairman Shri Santosh Kumar Yadav. Members of the NRSB, officials from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NHAI, state administrations and road safety experts also participated in the discussions.
The meeting marked an important step towards establishing a structured framework for sustained collaboration between NHAI and NRSB. The partnership aims to strengthen road safety governance, enhance safety standards on national highways and accelerate measures to reduce road accidents.
NHAI presents road safety management status
During the meeting, NHAI presented a comprehensive overview of road safety management on national highways. The presentation covered road safety performance and emerging trends, institutional arrangements and governance, highway safety engineering and operations, road safety audits and black spot management.
Officials also reviewed speed management, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and other technology-enabled interventions.
The discussions covered emergency response and post-crash care, monitoring and performance management systems, citizen engagement and user-centric services. Commercial vehicle safety, driver welfare and key challenges affecting road safety were also examined.
Focus on the Safe System approach
The meeting assessed existing institutional arrangements, engineering practices and operational systems and explored opportunities to strengthen road safety through the adoption of a Safe System approach.
The approach focuses on six key strategic areas:
- Risk identification, safe highway engineering and prevention
- Safe highway operations, commercial vehicle safety and Intelligent Transport Systems
- Emergency response, incident management and citizen-centric safety
- Digital safety management, monitoring and decision-support systems
- Performance monitoring, governance and institutional accountability
- A strategic roadmap for national highway road safety
The framework is aimed at creating a more coordinated approach to identifying and addressing road safety risks across the national highway network.
Technology to play a bigger role in highway safety
The deliberations also included a detailed diagnostic review of the existing road safety ecosystem, with emphasis on technology-enabled interventions and emergency response mechanisms.
Dr. Nitin R. Gokarn appreciated NHAI’s adoption of advanced technology tools to enhance road safety. These include Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), predictive artificial intelligence solutions and digital mapping of ambulances to strengthen incident response and emergency services.
He also emphasised the need to identify the top 10 accident-prone locations across the country and focus on strengthening safety measures at these locations.
Toll plaza staff to receive first-aid training
The meeting also highlighted the need to strengthen first-response capabilities at toll plazas.
Dr. Gokarn emphasised providing first-aid training to toll plaza personnel so they can provide timely assistance to road accident victims before specialised emergency services arrive.
The importance of coordination between NHAI field offices and state administrations was also discussed. NHAI field offices were advised to work closely with state authorities and keep them informed about road safety initiatives to ensure better coordination and implementation.
Periodic reviews planned
NHAI and NRSB will continue their structured engagement through periodic review meetings to identify emerging challenges and strengthen road safety interventions.
The meeting marks the beginning of a sustained institutional partnership between the two organisations focused on strengthening the road safety ecosystem on national highways through improved governance, engineering, technology, emergency response and institutional accountability.