E-Paper
Road accident deaths down, but fatality rate still haunts Ludhiana
The findings were listed in the Union ministry of road and transport’s “Road Accidents in India 2022” report, which was recently made public
The industrial hub of Punjab showed a slight improvement in the number of road mishap fatalities in 2022, witnessing a drop of 4.2% from 380 deaths in 2021 to 364 last year.
The findings were listed in the Union ministry of road and transport’s “Road Accidents in India 2022” report, which was recently made public.
With the decrease in the deaths, the city’s ranking improved a spot as well. Ludhiana was in 2021 ranked 14 from 50 million-plus cities surveyed. This year, the city dropped a spot to be ranked at 15.
Despite the drop in the number of deaths, the city still recorded a high fatality rate of 78% against the national average of 28%. Punjab, meanwhile, was placed third overall with a 77.5% fatality rate behind Mizoram’s 85% and Bihar’s 82.4%.
Addressing the findings, National Road Safety Council member Dr Kamal Soi highlighted poor road infrastructure and lack of proper planning as major factors contributing to the high fatality rate, adding. “In the majority of the areas, the traffic moves at slow speed due to ongoing construction of projects, but the fatality rate is still high, which indicates lack of scientific approach in handling the traffic.”
Soi cautioned that the figures included in the report may vary from the actual numbers of deaths on the city roads as the authorities have included only spot deaths.
He noted that the authorities may have not included the cases in which the police used to inquest proceedings under section 174 of CRPC in case of settlement between accused and kin of victims. Besides, he said, the number of deaths of victims who succumbed to the injuries at hospitals a while after actual mishaps may also have been overlooked.
According to the report, a majority of road mishaps — a whopping 60.5% — deaths were caused by speeding.
Notably, a speeding pick-up jeep had on October 30 jumped over the footpath before hitting a pedestrian near the Ludhiana Central Jail on Tajpur road. The man died on the spot, while three others sustained injuries in the accident.
Also in October, a speeding car hit a commuter to death and injured two others near Dholewal, while another had veered off an elevated road after breaking the concrete railing, resulting in one fatality and injuries to four others near Aligarh, Jagraon.
“We have to keep a check on the speeding. More than installing speed radars to check the speed of vehicles going out of the city, we need to focus on controlling the speed of vehicles entering the city,” Soi said.
