Trucks Delhi’s biggest killers

Accidents involving Bluelines resulted in 163 deaths in 2007, in the same period, truck accidents claimed 305 lives.

It isn’t the infamous Blueline buses that claim the most lives on Delhi’s roads. That distinction actually lies with rogue trucks, Parliament was told on Wednesday.

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Accidents involving Bluelines resulted in 163 deaths in 2007, in the same period, truck accidents claimed 305 lives.

As many as 103 people were seriously injured in accidents involving trucks, while 56 suffered serious injuries in Blueline accidents, according to statistics provided by Minister of State for Home Radhika V Selvi in the Rajya Sabha.

“Trucks are the biggest killers in Delhi. Truck drivers are not trained to drive on city roads and 90 per cent would fail driving tests. Most drink and drive in the night,” says PK Sarkar of the department of transport planning, School of Planning and Architecture.

Unlike in the west, India doesn’t have separate truck corridors. Enforcement is lax. And like the infamous Blueline drivers, truck drivers too routinely pay off the cops.

The police say they’ve done their bit to rein in errant truck drivers. “We have increased night-time checks and the accident rate of trucks has come down,” says SN Shrivastava, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

(With agency inputs)