New Delhi | The government is working to introduce vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology to prevent road accidents, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

Under V2V communication technology, the driver is alerted about speed, location, acceleration, spot vehicles in blind spots and braking of other vehicles in real-time in the vicinity, allowing him or her to take necessary action.

"A joint task force has been constituted with the telecom department.

"The Department of Telecom(DoT) has agreed in principle for the use of 30 MHz (5.875-5.905 GHz) for V2V purposes," Gadkari said while addressing a press conference here after chairing the annual meeting of transport ministers from all states and Union Territories here.

The road transport and highways minister said the wireless technology will allow cars to communicate directly.

The government has made efforts to reduce fatalities by improving road engineering, making enforcement of laws stricter, and increasing penalties in case of traffic violations, Gadkari said.

"In our country, there are 5 lakh road accidents annually, causing around 1.8 lakh deaths," he said, adding that around 66 per cent of the deaths are in the age group of 18-34.

He also said the government will come up with amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament.

These proposed 61 amendments seek to improve road safety, promote ease of doing business, improve citizen services, improve mobility, simplify definitions and languages and harmonise with global standards.

The meeting focused on critical issues, such as road safety, passenger and public convenience, ease of doing business, and automobile regulations.

Issues like enhanced safety norms for buses, sleeper coaches, and passenger vehicles were discussed, including bus body codes, BNCAP ratings, and phased introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) were also discussed in the meeting.

Introduction of a points-based system for tracking traffic violations, enabling digital and automated issuance of permits for all goods vehicles up to a certain gross vehicle weight were also discussed.