Road accident fatalities hit 30-year low in 2020

Police Data showed that in 2020, 1,163 fatal accidents were reported in the city, nearly 19% less than the fatal accidents reported in 2019.

Fatalities due to road accident in the national capital dipped to a 30-year low last year, data released by Delhi traffic police data shows.

Though the police did not share data of last 30 years, statistics available on the Delhi police’s website shows that 1163 fatal accidents in 2020 was the lowest since 2000 at least. (Representative Image) (Shutterstock)

Data released during the Delhi Police annual press conference on Friday showed that in 2020, 1,163 fatal accidents were reported in the city. This was nearly 19% less than the fatal accidents reported in 2019, which was 1,433. Special commissioner of police (traffic) Taj Hassan said that this reduction in the fatal accidents in the Capital was the lowest in 30 years.

Though the police did not share data of last 30 years, statistics available on the Delhi police’s website shows that 1163 fatal accidents in 2020 was the lowest since 2000 at least.

“The key strategy used by the traffic police to reduce road accidents was a combination of increased deployment of personnel on the roads, improvement of road engineering solutions and increasing road safety awareness campaigns,” said Hassan.

Data shows that the city has been seeing a steadily declining trend of fatal accidents. In 2018, the number of accidents that lead to the deaths of those involved was 1,657, which was nearly 14% higher than 1433 in 2019

The presentation made by the traffic department also showed that the number of traffic violations last year had also seen a jump compared to 2019.

In 2020, 13,802,973 violations were reported, as compared to 10,580,249 in 2019. The amount collected in challans had also gone up from ₹94.07 crore in 2019 to ₹124.16 crore in 2020.

Manish Agarwal, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said that the department has also been able to improve prosecutions even though the city dealt with a nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, which kept private vehicles off the roads for nearly four months. This, he said, was also because the traffic police relied a lot on camera-based prosecutions last year.

“Currently, we have around three to four types of camera prosecutions—to detect speeding, red light jumping and stop line violations, and to check unauthorised parking,” said Agarwal.

Traffic officials stressed that the department will continue to increase the use of technology throughout 2021. For instance, the Delhi traffic police are planning to implement Phase-II of the intelligent traffic monitoring system, which will increase the use of camera-based policing and therefore prosecutions, leading to a deterrence among drivers.

“The department will be preparing a detailed project report (DPR) of ITMS for an integrated implementation of the technology. We are also planning to improve enforcement and regulation for better traffic management and also improve coordination with civic agencies and other stakeholders,” Hassan said.