E-Paper
Road crashes claimed 92 lives in Chandigarh this year
Against 53 fatalities in 50 road mishaps in 2020, Chandigarh recorded 94 deaths in 92 mishaps till December 29, 2021. The numbers, however, are lower than the pre-Covid times.
With no vehicular restrictions this year, road fatalities in Chandigarh went up by 77% as compared to the last year, data compiled by the traffic police shows.
Against 53 fatalities in 50 road mishaps in 2020, the city recorded 94 deaths in 92 mishaps till December 29, 2021. The numbers, however, are lower than the pre-Covid times.
Two-wheelers most vulnerable
As per the data, two-wheelers continued to be the most vulnerable, accounting for 41.48% of the total fatalities recorded in 2021. Last year, two-wheeler fatalities stood at 44%. The number of pedestrian deaths also increased from 12 in 2020 to 24 in 2021 (see box).
Of the 92 fatal accidents, 51 were caused by speeding, 18 by rash and negligent driving while three were caused by driving on the wrong side. In 10 fatal incidents, it was found that the accused were under the influence of liquor and in 10 other cases, the fatal accident was caused due to the accused jumping traffic lights.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP, road safety) Jaswinder Singh said, “People who speed also tend to jump traffic signals especially at night which is dangerous.”
Senior superintendent of police (SSP, traffic) Manisha Choudary said, “The number of fatalities, although higher than 2020 is lower than previous years and through awareness, better enforcement and engineering initiatives, we will bring down the number further in the coming year.”
She added, “To check fatal accidents, we are in the process of installing rotaries at some lightpoints and will set up a Chandigarh Road Safety Society to help in designing better road infrastructure. We will also be soon launching an iRAD app to scientifically record and analyse the causes of accidents. For effective enforcement, we are purchasing three more speed radar guns with night vision to capture speeding at night. Night nakas are also being deployed to deter the traffic violations on accident-prone stretches.”
Need to further bring down average speed
Punjab traffic advisor Navdeep Asija said, “Comparing 2021’s data with 2020 is not fair. If we look at the numbers in 2019 and 2021, we see that fatalities have reduced by 10, which is a good achievement. Chandigarh usually sees around 100 fatal accidents. To bring the fatalities down further, police need to check speeding more effectively. In Chandigarh, the speed differential or the average speed on a road is too high at night as compared to the day which leads to many fatal accidents. This differential must be reduced to 5%.”
