E-Paper
Chandigarh: Road crashes up 13.9% but fatality count dips
The report titled, ‘Road Accidents in India 2022’, stated that Chandigarh had the fifth highest number of accidents among all the Union Territories in India and stood fourth in terms of deaths. The nine UTs contributed to 3% of the total road accidents in India. Jammu and Kashmir was at the top of the UTs in road accident cases.
Eighty-three lives were lost and 203 people left injured in 237 road crashes recorded in Chandigarh in 2022, a report of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), released on Tuesday, revealed.
While road accidents went up by 13.9% as compared to 2021, the number of fatalities dipped (see box).
The report titled, ‘Road Accidents in India 2022’, stated that Chandigarh had the fifth highest number of accidents among all the Union Territories in India and stood fourth in terms of deaths. The nine UTs contributed to 3% of the total road accidents in India. Jammu and Kashmir was at the top of the UTs in road accident cases.
As per the report, a total of 25 accidents reported in the city involved bicycles, and in 50% of the cases, the victims had succumbed to their injuries.
Worryingly, the data also showed that residential areas were also not safe for commuters with 18 accidents and five deaths taking place in such areas. Institutional areas, such as schools, saw 12 mishaps and one fatality in 2022 while six mishaps and four deaths took place in market and commercial areas.
Speeding caused most mishaps, deaths
As per the government stats, at 42.9%, two-wheelers accounted for the highest share of accidents in the 50 cities with million plus cities in 2022, followed by pedestrians (19.6 %), car/jeep/van or LVM (16.6%), and auto-rickshaw accounting for (5.6%).
“In the million plus cities, speeding was the cause of 67.6% road accident cases, 65.5% accident deaths and 66.3 % injuries,” the report stated.
It also stated that in the million-plus cities, ongoing construction work was the cause behind 4.4% of the road mishaps, 6.8% of the deaths and 4% of injuries. Potholes accounted for nearly 0.8% road accidents, 1.2 % mishap deaths and 0.7 % of injuries.
The report further revealed that the largest number of accidents, deaths and injuries in the million plus cities took place on uncontrolled crossings.
Harpreet Singh, Road Safety Expert, commenting on the trend of accidents here, said, “The fact that the number of accidents have gone up despite several efforts is a matter of concern. We need more political will, enhanced engineering quality and focused enforcement in order to curb the loss of lives on roads.”
