Supreme Court's Game-Changing Push for Safer Roads

What the court ruled

In a significant step towards making India's roads safer for all, the Supreme Court has issued an elaborated set of interim guidelines to protect pedestrians and enforce stronger road discipline. The directions, issued by the Division Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan, came in response to a long-pending public interest petition. With pedestrian deaths crossing 35,221 in 2023 (MoRTH), this ruling serves as a wake-up call for authorities to treat pedestrian safety as a core part of road design and traffic management — not an afterthought.

The PIL behind the judgment

Dr. S. Rajasekaran, a leading orthopaedic surgeon and Chairman of Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore — known for treating thousands of road accident victims and researching trauma care and spinal injuries — filed the Public Interest Litigation that triggered these directions. Witnessing preventable deaths every day due to poor road safety measures and delayed emergency response, he urged the government to enforce stricter road safety laws, improve trauma care systems, deploy trained emergency responders, and ensure timely medical assistance for accident victims. His PIL led to the formation of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, helping make road safety a national priority.

The five pillars of the Supreme Court's guidelines

The Court has laid out five key directives to address some of the most pressing issues contributing to India's high road fatality rate.

1. Pedestrian safety: footpaths, crossings, accessibility

The Court emphasised that a well-maintained, encroachment-free footpath is a judicially recognised right. NHAI and road-owning agencies in 50 major cities must conduct comprehensive audits of existing footpaths and pedestrian crossings.

The Court also called for the creation of Accessibility and Pedestrian Cells at city level, and online grievance redressal systems for citizens to report blocked footpaths, poor maintenance or missing crossings.

2. Helmet enforcement for two-wheeler riders and pillions

Despite clear laws, the MoRTH report records that 54,000 riders and passengers lost their lives in 2023 due to not wearing helmets. The Court directed States, UTs and NHAI to strictly enforce helmet laws through e-enforcement mechanisms — cameras to detect violations, penalties for offenders, licence suspensions — with periodic reports submitted to the Court on fines collected and actions taken.

3. Wrong-lane and reckless driving

Unlawful lane driving is a silent killer on Indian roads. The Court has directed authorities to implement:

• Automated camera-based enforcement
• Graduated fines for violations
• Coloured and textured lane markings for buses, cycles and dedicated users
• Dynamic lighting and rumble strips to guide lane discipline
• Public dashboards on lane violations for transparency and citizen awareness

4. Cracking down on dazzling lights and illegal hooters

The Court raised serious concerns over the rampant use of high-intensity LED headlights, red-blue strobes and unauthorised sirens that disorient drivers and pedestrians. For pedestrians — especially the elderly and visually impaired — glare from high-beam lights is not a minor nuisance but a direct safety hazard.

• MoRTH and States to prescribe luminance and beam standards for headlights
• Strict checks during PUC and vehicle fitness testing
• Targeted enforcement drives to seize illegal lights and hooters
• Nationwide awareness campaigns highlighting how blinding lights endanger others

5. Mandatory rules by state governments

The Court gave States and UTs six months to frame and notify:

• Rules under Section 138(1A) of the Motor Vehicles Act, regulating access of pedestrians and non-mechanised vehicles on highways and public roads
• Rules under Section 210-D, setting design and maintenance standards for all roads other than national highways

Accountability and inclusion

The Court didn't stop at issuing directions. It called for personal accountability of officials and contractors under Section 198-A of the Motor Vehicles Act for pedestrian deaths caused by poor road design or infrastructure failure. It also mandated that District Road Safety Committees (DRSCs) discuss pedestrian safety every month — integrating it into governance rather than leaving it as a neglected concern.

Why this matters: from policy to people

These guidelines mark a historic shift in how India views road safety — from being driver-centric to being pedestrian-first. Pedestrians form the largest group of road users in Indian cities, yet they remain the most vulnerable. By treating footpaths as a legal right and enforcing data-driven accountability, the Court has reaffirmed that safe mobility is a constitutional promise — not a privilege.

Crashfree India's perspective: from judgment to action

At Crashfree India, we see this ruling as both a blueprint and a responsibility. Our ongoing work — from Project Rakshak and the NextMile Road Safety Policy Ideathon to collaborations with government bodies — aligns with the Court's directives to:

• Citizen awareness

  Promote grievance redressal platforms for pedestrian issues.
• Safer footpath design

  Advocate for audits and IRC-compliant footpaths across cities.
• Municipal partnerships

  Ensure enforcement is paired with public engagement.
• Behavioural norms

  Highlight helmet and lane discipline as essential road behaviours.
• Data transparency

  Support open crash and enforcement data to track accountability.

What happens next

The next 24 months will test whether states translate the judgment into budget lines, council meetings and finished works on the ground. Citizens now have a clearer remedy when local authorities fail to act on known risks — RTI, PILs and citizen audits gain new legal weight. If implemented in full spirit, these directions could save thousands of lives every year, restore dignity to pedestrians, and move India closer to the vision of Crashfree roads, where every journey is safe for everyone.