Patna saw over 300 road mishaps in last 9 months: Traffic police dept

In September, at least 23 road accidents were registered so far while the highest number of accidents occurred in January, which saw 42 mishaps and 24 fatalities.

Fear gripped commuters in the capital city after a horrific car accident took place near Ramakrishna Nagar on NH 30, which claimed two lives and injured seven people on Tuesday morning.

A car accident took place near Ramakrishna Nagar on NH 30, which claimed two lives and injured seven people on Tuesday morning. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

As per the traffic police department, the capital city has registered over 300 road accidents claiming more than 150 lives between January to September this year.

In September, at least 23 road accidents were registered so far while the highest number of accidents occurred in January, which saw 42 mishaps and 24 fatalities.

Residents shared that the increasing number of flyovers and road expansion in the capital city has made transportation easy but they have also emerged as accidents spots due to reckless driving and poor traffic monitoring system.

Meanwhile, the state transport department shared that several measures are being taken to achieve the set target of minimising road accidents by 50% by 2030.

Transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said, “The department has asked every district to identify highly sensitive stretches. After compilation of data, we would prepare action plans, including educating locals, engineering innervations and emergency care services, for bringing down accidents and fatalities.”

“Flyovers have reduced travel time but there is no traffic regulation on them. Over speeding, reckless driving and craze among people for shooting photos and videos on flyovers are the major cause behind road accidents,” said Deepak Kumar, a school teacher near Bypass Road.

As per transport officials, several safety measures have been adopted to minimise road accidents.

“Intense helmet and seatbelt checking drive, encouragement to good Samaritans for helping accident victims have yielded positive results. The department has also established automated driving schools for proper training of drivers while other hi-tech projects are in pipeline, which will bring a significant decline in road mishaps in coming years”, said a senior official of the transport department.

The transport department claimed an 8% fall in road accidents during January to June this year in comparison to the corresponding period in 2019.