PANAJI
Nearly a year after the Goa government introduced its Road Safety Policy, 2025, the State is in the final stages of proposing Regional Driver Training Centres (RDTCs) in North and South Goa.
Officials said locations for the centres are being identified.
“The proposal for setting up these facilities in North and South Goa will be submitted to the government. It is in line with the Goa Road Safety Policy 2025 and is one of the key components of the policy. The proposal is in the final stages... For now, the Transport Dept is working on the identification of locations,” an official said, speaking to The Goan.
The move comes in view of a directive from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), which in February 2025 announced a nationwide plan to set up driving training institutes. The ministry cited driver error as a major cause of road accidents and committed Rs 4,500 crore in phased assistance to set up 1,600 such centres across all States and Union Territories.
Goa’s road safety policy, rolled out thereafter, emphasized improving driver training and licensing standards. “The training centres will be set up in the state as per the guidelines issued by MoRTH, which will provide high-quality, structured training and scientifically assess drivers before they are granted licenses,” the official said.
Goa’s vehicle population stood at 14,62,589 as on March 24, 2026, including 9,36,383 two-wheelers and 3,83,772 light motor vehicles.
Between January 1, 2022, and January 31, 2026, the state recorded 2,176 road accidents. A substantial share of fatalities occurred in self-accidents, which claimed 396 lives, while crashes involving multiple vehicles accounted for 352 deaths.
The policy aligns with the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, the Centre’s broader road safety framework, and the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021–2030), which aims to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries by half by the end of the decade.
The State also plans to introduce Automated Testing Stations (ATS) to improve vehicle fitness assessments. The system is designed to minimize manual intervention and enhance transparency and consistency in inspections, to mitigate the risks posed by unfit vehicles.
