680 Is road safety a matter of political urgency in India?

<h3>Background</h3> Road traffic deaths in India are a serious public health problem. The recent trend of road traffic deaths, as shown by data from India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH), shows an increase. Road safety issues in India are still considered an individual problem rather than a systemic problem. It highlights that road transport safety issues are not just an engineering problem but rather a systemic and complex socio-technical problem. Successful countries have exhibited cooperation and coordination among the stakeholders. <h3>Objective</h3> In this context, this study aims to show whether road safety has recently been a matter of political urgency in India. <h3>Method</h3> This study relied on various document analyses. <h3>Results/Conclusions</h3> Our study shows that political will and cooperation are critical elements in countries where road safety issues have been systematically tackled. Politicians are the ultimate decision-makers in any country; that’s also largely true for road safety decision-making. Our study recommends that India needs a formal road safety policy and road safety action plan with a sense of urgency. Political will is essential to reach the sustainable development goal’s target of 3.6 by 2030.