Pedestrians account for 50% of fatalities on city roads

Pedestrians account for 50% of road accident fatalities in Mumbai over the past five years, according to data from the Mumbai Traffic Police. Experts attribute the high number of pedestrian deaths to obstructions on footpaths, forcing pedestrians to walk on the roads and cross at unmarked crossings. A recent report suggests installing pedestrian walkways, zebra crossings, and advance warning signs to improve pedestrian safety. Steps have already been taken to penalize helmetless riders, pillion riders, and drunk drivers.

MUMBAI: Pedestrians continue to be the most vulnerable to road accidents in the city with data released by the Mumbai Traffic Police revealing that walkers accounted for 50% of fatalities on the city roads in the last five years.

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According to police, in 2022, at least 272 people lost their lives in road crashes across the city. The victims included 136 pedestrians. Traffic police officers said that although the overall number of fatalities in road accidents has decreased compared to previous years, the percentage of pedestrians dying in these accidents remains high.

In Maharashtra, 2,894 pedestrians were killed out of the total 7,232 deaths recorded in 6,764 road accidents in the year 2022.

Experts believe that pedestrians are forced to walk on roads and cross at unmarked crossings posing a threat to them.

“It is not that there are no footpaths in the city but there are so many obstructions on footpaths and the pedestrians prefer continuous stretch, forcing them to share the same road space as a vehicle making their life depend on the judgement of the driver,” said a traffic expert. During monsoon as the side strips of footpaths are often waterlogged, it makes it even more difficult for pedestrians to walk on the footpath which increases the risk of contact with speeding vehicles, he added.

A recent report on speed observations, “slow down,” by a non-governmental organisation United Way along with the Mumbai traffic police and transport department, as the side strips of footpaths are often waterlogged, it makes it even more difficult for pedestrians to walk on the footpath, increasing, observed that pedestrians walked on the carriageway instead of the footpaths at several locations, as the footpaths were encroached upon. “Pedestrian walkways, zebra crossing markings and controlled pedestrian walkways must be installed with advance warning signs,” was one of the solutions suggested by United Way.

“If one is walking, then for several reasons, including safety, they will always prefer to walk along a path that is ostensibly continuous. Unfortunately, when only a carriageway offers that continuity, it puts them at direct risk of a crash. This is a common scenario in Mumbai; therefore, pedestrians are the most vulnerable to road accidents. Mumbai streets have to be designed for pedestrians. Alongside saving lives, it will improve vehicular efficiency too,” said Dhawal Ashar, senior manager with the Integrated Transport team at the World Resources Institute (WRI).

Traffic police officials said that in Mumbai 364 people had died in 2021 in road crashes which included 44% of pedestrians and 35% of two-wheeler riders after which steps like penalising helmetless riders and pillion riders and imposing seat belts were taken. “Every month at least 8,000 speeding violations are recorded by traffic police. At least 242 drunk drivers were penalised in the past three months after the use of breath analysers was permitted after Covid restrictions were lifted,” said a traffic police officer.