73% accidents in Ghaziabad involve younger drivers, says Police data

The first four months of the year has witnessed the highest number of accidents reported in the period since 2012.

Commuters driving on Ghaziabad roads need to be careful as the city traffic police have released a survey that has revealed some alarming trends.

The first four months of the year has witnessed the highest number of accidents reported in the period since 2012. (HT File)

On Monday, HT reported that the first four months of the year has witnessed the highest number of accidents reported in the period since 2012. As many as 181 people lost their lives from January to April this year. A total of 98 people were killed from January to April in 2015, 126 in 2014, 134 in 2013 and 130 in 2012.

The survey, based on the accident-related data compiled from different police stations and the traffic police department for 2015, was finalised by the traffic police recently. A total number of 331 people lost their lives and 662 suffered injuries in 826 accidents reported in 2015.

According to the survey, 38% of the accidents reported in the city involved fatalities while in 52% of the cases, victims suffered grievous injuries. Only in 10% of accident cases, victims suffered minor injuries or no injury.

“This is the first survey done comprehensively to educate people about the precautions that they should take while driving on city roads. It is also based on a department analysis. The survey has been sent to officials in Lucknow and the local police stations. Recommendations for betterment in road safety arrangements will be suggested now,” said Rajesh Kumar, superintendent of police (traffic) at Ghaziabad.

“We also found that new drivers, with vehicles registered less than four years ago, were involved in nearly 42% of the accidents. As the duration of ownership of the vehicle increases, the accident rate declines. The trend could be because the drivers are new and new vehicles have a better pickup,” Kumar said.

The survey also rings alarm bells for commuters using NH-24 and NH-58, and state highway 57.

“A total of 253 accident fatalities took place on highways and state highways in 2015. In 2015, 491 accidents took place in urban areas while 335 in rural areas. The lesson is that one should drive carefully on highways as they are narrow and have cuts. Also, vehicles are parked on the sides,” Kumar said.

One of the other major highlight of the survey is that more accidents took place between 5am and 7am. Accidents also took place more between 5pm and 6pm, 7pm and 8pm and 11pm and midnight.

The survey also concluded that maximum accidents took place during clear weather.

It stated that nearly 73% accidents took place during clear weather. Only 15% accidents took place in foggy and extreme cold conditions while 12% took place during extreme winds and rain.

“Private vehicles such as cars and two-wheelers were involved in nearly 30% of accidents while buses accounted for 15% accidents. Heavy and light commercial vehicles accounted for nearly 35% of the accidents,” Kumar said.

“The idea behind the survey is to study the accident pattern and implement measures that can reduce fatalities. Henceforth, the survey will be conducted at the end of every year,” he said.