4 min readPatnaUpdated: May 20, 2026 06:27 PM IST
Increased police patrols, radar guns to monitor four- and six-lane highways and e-challans – these are among the measures Bihar Police will introduce to prevent traffic accidents, a month after the Supreme Court voiced concern over rising road fatalities on national highways.
Bihar Additional Director General of Police (Traffic and Law and Order) Sudhanshu Kumar told The Indian Express that while 63 patrol vehicles already cover Bihar’s 6,300-km national highway network, 58 more will be deployed by the end of June “to ensure one vehicle covers a 50-km NH stretch”.
“Each vehicle will have one police officer and two constables besides the driver. The vehicle will carry a foldable stretcher, gas cutter and a solar panel to run a generator in the event of any rescue need during an accident,” he said.
The police will introduce radar systems for the first time to monitor speed limits on multilane highways. “An e-challan will be promptly delivered through SMS to speed limit violators,” said the ADGP, adding that a fresh proposal would be sent to the state home department for a dedicated highway patrol on the lines of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
While the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways covered greenfield stretches of national highways, it has been challenging to monitor brownfield (habitation) areas, the officer said. “The SC’s recent order calls for better management of the Intelligent Traffic Management System.”
According to Deputy Inspector General of Police (Traffic) SK Saroj, Bihar’s road fatalities have risen steadily: from 6,699 in 2020, 9,553 in 2021, 10,801 in 2022, 11,014 in 2023, 11,610 in 2024 and 12,669 in 2025.
“Road accidents are four times the number of murders reported in a year,” another police officer said. “Across the country, 57,000 accident deaths were reported on national highways in 2025.”
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In their April 13 order, the Supreme Court’s Division Bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar called it “systemic negligence and catastrophic infrastructure failure leading to evitable casualties”. Taking suo motu cognisance of the deaths of 34 people in road accidents at Rangareddy, Telangana, in 2025, the court said: “The ‘Right to Life’ enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India is not merely a guarantee against the unlawful taking of life, but a positive mandate upon the State to ensure a safe environment where human life is preserved and valued”.
The court also directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and state governments to initiate a host of safety measures — including a dedicated road safety task force to patrol national highways.
“In every district wherever the National Highway passes through, the concerned district magistrates within 15 days of this order constitute a District Highway Safety Task Force in every district across India,” the court said.
Other key directions include a ban on the parking or stoppage of heavy or commercial vehicles on national highways, and restrictions on any new dhabas or eateries within the Right of Way (ROW). “No department, authority, or local body should grant or renew any licence, NOC, or trade approval for any site within highway safety zones without prior NHAI/PWD clearance,” the court said. “NHAI and MoRTH have also been directed to identify blackspots and critical areas and publish a comprehensive list of accident blackspots on National Highways within 45 days.”
