Delhi tops cities with most road accident deaths, speeding main cause: Data

The extensive data on accidents not only revealed Delhi’s standing among all Indian states and 50 most populated cities, it shed light on a host of other aspects such as the factors that caused the accidents, age profiles of victims and the age of vehicles involved.

Speeding caused more than 44% of all 1,690 accidental deaths on Delhi’s roads last year even as the national capital accounted for the most road fatalities among all Indian cities in the last two years, data released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said.

Bad roads were directly responsible for many deaths. Eighteen persons died due to potholes and another 50 were killed on underconstruction roads, the data showed. (HT Photo / Used for representational purpose only)

The extensive data on accidents not only revealed Delhi’s standing among all Indian states and 50 most populated cities, it shed light on a host of other aspects such as the factors that caused the accidents, age profiles of victims and the age of vehicles involved.

In 6,515 accidents on Delhi’s roads last year, 1,690 persons were killed and 6,086 were injured. While the number of deaths rose by 6.7% over the previous year, the accidents dipped by 2.4% and injuries by 7.8%.

The data showed that speeding caused 748 deaths, 176 died while jumping traffic signals, 72 due to drunken driving, 69 while driving on the wrong side and 37 were killed while using mobile phones.

The data showed the need for motorcyclists to wear helmets and car occupants to tie seat belts. 127 motorcycle riders and 37 pillion riders died as they were not wearing safety head gear. Not wearing seat belts left 59 drivers and 65 passengers dead in Delhi last year.

The investigators were able to determine the age of vehicles involved in 54% of all 6,515 accidents. 36% of all accidents involved vehicles less than five years old. About 23% vehicles were older than 15 years.

Bad roads were directly responsible for many deaths. Eighteen persons died due to potholes and another 50 were killed on underconstruction roads, the data showed.

Piyush Tewari, CEO of SaveLIFE foundation, blamed “poor enforcement and bad engineering” for Delhi topping the chart in terms of fatal accidents. For preventing motorists from breaking laws, Tewari said, visible enforcement was needed. “Every time we see visible enforcement at intersections, people do not jump the traffic light,” he said.

“Secondly, even when there is enforcement, there needs to be sufficient engineering. In most cases, before intersections, authorities should deploy speed-calming measures so that when vehicles approach intersections, they automatically slow down,” he said.

A large number of deaths occurred during bad weather conditions. While it rained, 169 persons died in accidents and when the weather turned misty or foggy, another 252 deaths happened, the data showed.

Of the fatalities, 420 were pedestrians and 20 cyclists. Even animals loitering on the roads triggered 32 accidents and left two persons dead.

In terms of severity(number of deaths per 100 accidents), Delhi ranked 27 among all states and union territories. Last year, Delhi’s “accident severity” figure was 25.9%.

While Delhi topped the list of 50 cities with a population of over a million in terms of accidental deaths in 2018 as well as in 2017, it ranked second on the index of accidents and the number of persons injured in both the years — Chennai being the topper on both occasions.

State-wise, Delhi ranked 19 in number of deaths and 17 in terms of accidents in each of the last two years. Tewari said Delhi needed to notify the compounding fees for 24 traffic offences. “Delhi is one of those few states, which is yet to notify it. Delhi police and the Delhi government need to implement the new Motor Vehicles Act,” he said.

Speaking about the need for adequate measures for reducing road accidents, S Gangopadhyay, former director of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said the government needed to enhance public transport, particularly the bus system. “Improvement also needs to be carried out in pedestrian facilities,” he added.