Missing barriers: 3% Himachal Pradesh mishaps due to lack of guard rails

Tribune News Service

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, October 2

Even as tough topography and serpentine roads pose a challenge to motorists and lead to road accidents in the hill state, only 3 per cent mishaps in the last five years were attributed to blind turns and lack of parapet/crash barriers. At least 13,740 mishaps took place in the state from 2017 to 2021. Of these, 389 occurred at black spots lacking crash barriers.

Ajay Gupta, Engineer-in-Chief, PWD, said, “Though only a small percentage of accidents occurred at blind turns, we are taking measures to repair crash barriers at stretches witnessing reoccurrence of mishaps as every life is precious.”

Normally crash barriers bend with the impact as they are designed to minimise the damage and fatalities. “We have to repair or reinstall these at several accident-prone areas. We are constantly working on vulnerable and potential black spots,” he said.

As per the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, at 17.1, road accidents per 10,000 vehicles in the state were higher than the national average of 15.1 in 2019, with over-speeding and dangerous driving turning out to be the leading causes.

Similarly, the number of fatalities in road mishaps per 10,000 vehicles was 7 in the state as compared to 5.1 at the national level.

As many as 5,503 persons died and 22,583 sustained injuries in 13,740 accidents from 2017 to 2021. Over-speeding and dangerous driving were responsible for 68 per cent of the accidents, while turning without caution and lane changing led to 20 per cent of the mishaps. Intoxication and other reasons were cited for 4 and 5 per cent of the accidents, respectively, as per the data procured from the state police.

The maximum number of accidents took place in open areas on the National Highways, followed by link roads and state highways. At least 81 per cent (11,156) accidents were reported in the rural areas and the remaining 19 per cent (2,584) in the urban areas.

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