12 pc drop in fatal road mishaps

Minna Zutshi

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 12

As many as 12 persons, on an average, lost their lives daily in road accidents last year. Punjab reported 4,278 deaths and 4,024 cases of injuries in mishaps, according to the report titled ‘Punjab road accidents and traffic-2017’. However, last year saw a decline of 12.1% in fatal road accidents against the rising trend of the previous years.

Around 2.25% of the total population of India lives in Punjab, but the state’s share in road accident fatalities has been 3.3-3.5% in the past five years. The number of fatalities per million population of Punjab was 148 against the national average of 119 in 2017. The rate of fatal road accidents in Rupnagar, SAS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts is almost double the state’s average.

The cities of Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar, Mohali, Jalandhar and Bathinda accounted for 15% of the total road fatalities in Punjab.

About 75% of the people involved in fatal mishaps are in the age group of 18 to 45. In 2017, 60-67% of these accidents occurred on national and state highways. Last year, a majority of the road accidents occurred in rural areas of the state.

Speeding is a major cause of the road accidents. Last year, 2,363 persons died due to speeding. Faulty road engineering is also a key factor. Around 400 road accident black spots (a stretch on which three or more persons have died in a year) have been identified on state and national highways.

Navdeep K Asija, traffic adviser, Punjab, said the continuous decline in road fatalities observed in all 12 months of 2017 as compared to 2016 showed that accidents could be prevented when right efforts were made in right direction.

The five Es – Engineering, Education, Enforcement, Engagement (with community) and Emergency Response Systems – are important in preventing road accidents and reducing their severity, Asija said. “Enforcement of road safety rules is pivotal. We need to instill in the people the fear of being caught and the fear of being punished,” said traffic expert Dr Kamal Soi.