To make the roads and highways of the country safe. To control and check the road worthiness of vehicles. To control the work and infrastructure systems to eliminate or minimize accidents on the road; To educate drivers and pedestrians about the importance of road rules, discipline and mutual respect.

It recognizes that road accidents have now become a major public health issue, and the victims are mainly the poor and vulnerable road users. The Government of India further recognizes that as road accidents involve roads, motor vehicles as also the human beings, road safety needs to be addressed on a holistic basis.

A Safe System approach within the road transport system is built around the premise that death and injury are unacceptable and are avoidable. This approach seeks to ensure that no road user is subject to kinetic energy exchange in a crash which will result in death or serious long-term disabling injury.