10% accident deaths take place at traffic junctions

The traffic police’s decision to hike fines for jumping red light at three key intersections is not without reason.

The traffic police’s decision to hike fines for jumping red light at three key intersections is not without reason.

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According to the police, 10 % of road fatalities on Delhi roads occur due to jumping of red lights by motorists.

This year, as many as 6,420 motorists were prosecuted for jumping red lights at the Tilak Marg circle. The Bhisham Pitamah Marg-Lodhi Road intersection, which is known as a notorious junction for road accidents, has already claimed 15 lives and injured another 12. Many accidents were also reported from the Prithviraj Road-Rajesh Pilot Marg intersection.

At two other accident-prone stretches — Parliament Street and Chanakyapuri —prosecution for jumping red lights were around 37,000 and 25,000, respectively.

The Delhi Traffic Police — which claims to have significantly brought down road fatalities through stringent prosecutions — are now in the process of identifying accident-prone intersections where red light jumping attributes to road accidents significantly and taking measures to control it.

“To start with, we have deployed our men equipped with video cameras at Tilak Marg-Bhagwan Das Road intersection to videograph the motorists who would jump red lights. They would be slapped with a fine of Rs 1000,” said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic). From Tuesday, the drive will be conducted on regular basis, the police said.

The drill in these intersections will be introduced in a phased manner. Subsequently, the same drill will be replicated at other select intersections, including Bhisham Pitamah Marg-Lodhi Road intersection and the Prithviraj Road-Rajesh Pilot Marg intersection.

The Delhi Police had introduced a similar drill at pedestrian signals in July this year, which, however, could not be continued for long.

The police believe that a steep fine for red light jumping would bring down road fatalities by at least 5 %.

About a year ago, the Motor Vehicle Act Amendment committee had made a proposal to increase penalty for violation of traffic norms by three to five times. In the proposal, fine for red light jumping is Rs 500 in lieu of Rs 100 and dangerous driving is Rs 2,000 in lieu of Rs 1,000.

The proposal, however, is yet to be tabled in the Parliament.