At least three died in 15 accidents daily in 2022: Delhi Police’s report

The report projected a grim view of road safety as the number of fatal accidents also increased from 1,239 in 2021 to 1,428 in 2022.

The number of road crashes in the Capital has increased from 4,720 in 2021 to 5,652 in 2022, according to an annual Delhi Police report released on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police claimed in a statement that the city recorded 1,300 fatalities between January 1 and November 30 in 2023, which shows a decline of over 3% compared to 1,342 during the corresponding period last year. (HT Archive)

The report — titled Delhi Road Crash Report 2022 — projected a grim view of road safety as the number of fatal accidents also increased from 1,239 in 2021 to 1,428 in 2022. However, the number of people injured in accidents decreased from 4,273 in 2021 to 2,501 in 2022.

Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, who released the report, said a road safety action plan has been outlined in the document, which involves the joint effort of multiple departments to improve education, engineering, enforcement, and emergency care.

To be sure, fewer vehicles were allowed on Delhi roads in 2021 due to Covid-19 and restrictions made on vehicular movement, which led to fewer violations and accidents.

“The focus is on designing forgiving infrastructure to reduce the chance of crashes occurring in the first place and then reducing the deaths in the cases where they do occur. The efforts of the Delhi Traffic Police have led to a total reduction in road crash deaths in Delhi by 20% over the last decade. Continuing our endeavor to save lives, we have now increased focus on more pedestrian-centric traffic management,” said Arora.

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“Efforts were made to reduce the number of crashes caused due to drink driving by increasing the prosecution of people driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2022, 2,255 people were prosecuted for drink driving which is fewer than 2,831 prosecuted in 2021,” the report added.

Special Commissioner of police (traffic), SS Yadav, said that the report focused on enhancing the use of technology in traffic management and increasing surveillance to improve road infrastructure.

“As pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are the most vulnerable, the focus will continue on the road safety measures for them, including prosecutions and awareness about usage of helmets, zebra crossings, subways, encroachment-free safe pedestrian walkways/footpaths. We have also recommended design interventions at crash-prone locations to bring a decline in fatalities,” said Yadav.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police claimed in a statement that the city recorded 1,300 fatalities between January 1 and November 30 in 2023, which shows a decline of over 3% compared to 1,342 during the corresponding period last year. This decline, officials said, was a testament to the “effectiveness of the strategies outlined in the Delhi Road Safety Action Plan (DRSAP)”.

The report added that hit-and-run fatal accidents have increased in 2022 compared to 2021 (from 555 in 2021 to 668 in 2022).

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“About 47% of all the fatal accidents come under the category of hit-and-run... Lack of proper identification of vehicle viz. faulty/smeared number plate is mainly responsible for fleeing offenders. Passers-by witnessing the crash also refrain from reporting the matter to police. Lack of surveillance cameras at the accident spot is another crucial reason,” it said.

Delhi Police had last year identified 10 black spots in Delhi — including Mukarba Chowk, Khampur Village, Daula Kuan, Mayapuri Chowk, Gandhi Vihar bus stand, Bhalswa Chowk, Peeragarhi, Punjabi Bagh Chowk, Britannia Chowk and Ashram Chowk.

Meanwhile, Mathura Road, Ring Road, Mehrauli Badarpur Road, Anand Mai Marg, Agra Canal Road, Road No 13A, Jaitpur Road, Outer Ring Road, Okhla Road and Lala Lajpat Rai Path figured in the list of most crash-prone roads in Delhi.

Experts said that pedestrian infrastructure has been a big problem in Delhi.

“The number of crashes involving pedestrians is way too high as there are no safe unobstructed footpaths in the city. Also, the blackspots need to be rectified with immediate changes. All these blackspots can see fewer crashes with simple design changes,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, trustee of the Raahgiri Foundation that worked on creating the report.