481 died in accidents on Gurgaon roads last year

Every year average number of accidents increases in December and January because of low visibility caused by fog

Extensive ongoing construction on most major roads, poor road design, including the newly constructed roads, and lack of enforcement of traffic rules led to a rise in the number of deaths in road accidents in 2017 as compared to 2016, experts said.

A car gets hit by another near the highway exit point for Cybercity, in Gurgaon. Experts say most accidents in the city happen because of faulty road design. (HT File Photo)

According to the data collated by the Gurgaon police, 481 people lost their lives in accidents on Gurgaon roads in 2017; this figures stood at 420 in 2016.

The data also reveals that the total number of accidents were slightly higher in 2017, at 1,214, as compared to 1,201 in 2016. The total number of fatal accidents last year was 459, which is much higher than the 410 fatal road mishaps in 2016.

Experts said the biggest reason for the rise in number of deaths has been the ongoing road construction and digging of road for infrastructure projects.

“There is construction going on at every major junction across the city. An analysis of the accident data shows that 60-65% fatal accidents happened at these junctions,” Prof Sewa Ram, a transport expert from the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi who analyzed the data by traffic police for 2017, said.

The junctions where most accidents happen are Iffco chowk, Rajiv chowk, Signature Tower intersection, Vatika Crossing, Hero Honda chowk, intersections on MG Road and Delhi-Gurgaon road, and problem points, including Kherki Daula, Sirhaul toll plaza and Sikanderpur.

Sewa Ram also blamed poor road and intersection design for the rise in fatalities. A study of a junction near Sikanderpur on the newly built Golf Course Road connecting NH8 with Sector 56 revealed that there are 43 ways in which accidents can happen here because of poor design.

“As per the international traffic engineering norms, an uncontrolled intersections has 32 possibilities of conflict or accident which can be reduced to eight, when it is converted to a roundabout. However, in case of Sikanderpur junction, the lacunae in design has increased these possibilities to 43. There are issues related to proper turning radius, accessibility to service roads and lack of visibility due to pillars,” Sewa Ram said.

Apart from that most roads in Gurgaon, including the expressways, do not give adequate space to pedestrians and cyclists.

Not only this, poor visibility due to fog also leads to a rise in the number of accidents in December and January, the two months when on-road visibility is severely affected by fog. Data collected by the Gurgaon police also shows that the number of accidents increases in the colder months.

In December 2017, 48 people lost their lives in fatal road accidents. This is almost twice the average number of deaths in road accidents witnessed in Gurgaon per month, which is 25 fatalities.

“The pattern of road accidents is such that there is rise in number of accidents during December and January due to bad weather conditions. In 2016, the number of accidents in these months was 33 against the average of 21 deaths that occur in a month,” Gurgaon police public relations officer Ravinder Kumar said.

Kumar added that they have increased the presence of traffic personnel at major junctions and alerted police teams on patrolling duty along important roads to ensure better enforcement of traffic rules.

Further, officials are expecting an addition of 350 men in traffic police by March 2018, which they claim would improve the traffic situation in the city, and particularly check violations.

The year-end traffic data collected by police in 2017 also revealed that speeding, driving in the wrong lane and jaywalking were the major reasons for road mishaps in the city.