In Maharashtra, road fatalities overtake last year's number in first six months

maharashtraaThe Maharashtra governments goal of reducing road accident fatalities looks unattainable for yet another year with 1231 more people dying in road accidents in the first half of this year and 3170 more suffering injuries as compared to the same period last yearAccording to information sourced from the state transport department 31458 road accidents occurred in Maharashtra killing 8068 people while 14200 were injured between January to June 2022 as against 14420 road accidents in which 6837 people died and 11030 injured in the same period in 2021The surge in road accidents in the first six months of this year is 11815 per cent while road fatalities and injuries are up by 18 per cent and 2873 per cent respectivelyAs compared to the first six months of the prepandemic year 2019 the state witnessed about 76 per cent more road crashes and 1413 per cent more fatalities till June this year while the number of injured rose by 9 per centIn 17864 road crashes 7069 people died and 15617 were injured between January and June 2019 as per the dataMaharashtra Highway police have been compiling the road accident details from 35 districts and 10 police commissionerates in the state over the last few years for analysis and taking preventive measures to bring down the number of road accidents and fatalitiesSignificantly the data suggests that in very few of the 35 districts and 10 police commissionerates the number of road accidents fatalities and injuries has come down so far this year compared to the corresponding period last yearOf the 31458 road accidents 15132 occurred in Mumbai in the first six months of 2022 Even though the number of accidents surged by 14008 the resultant fatalities and injuries dipped by 46 and 90 respectively as compared to the same period JanuaryJune last yearMumbai traffic police however claimed that the number of accidents in Mumbai looks more due to the inclusion of First Information Reports FIRs for wrongside driving About 150200 FIRS registered every day for the last three months were included in this years accident data for MumbaiOtherwise accidents and fatalities have declined Raj Tilak Roushan Deputy Commissioner of Police Mumbai Traffic Police told PTIHe said road engineering changes at accident spots CCTV monitoring on roads heavy enforcement action awareness drives and no entry for heavy vehicles during peak hours are some of the important steps being taken to curb the number of road accidentsAfter Mumbai the districts of Yawatmal 247 Ahmednagar 160 and Chandrapur 155 witnessed a maximum rise in the number of road accidentsAs far as fatalities are concerned Buldhana 95 and Ahmednagar 84 districts have seen the highest rise On the injuries front Nagpur rural 306 Pune rural 294 and Solapur rural 279 top the chart for the first six months of this year as compared to the same period of the previous yearIn comparison only three districtsmdashNanded 20 Dhule 10 and Parbhani 2 have witnessed a dip in road crashes while only Mumbai city 46 Thane rural 6 Dhule 4 Akola 4 and Sindhudurg 2 saw a decline in road fatalitiesThe number of road accident injuries in Mumbai 90 Latur 19 and Nanded 10 has gone downMaharashtra has a vehicle population of more than 35 crore and a road network of more than 17725 km of national highways 29029 km of state highways and 63886 km of other roadsSignificantly in the year 2021 as many as 13528 persons were killed and 25116 others injured in 29493 road crashes across Maharashtra According to Maharashtra Highway Polices report on road accidents in 2020 almost 3037 of road accidents occur in Pune Solapur Ahmednagar and Nashik districtsldquoThe lack of concernstrictness on the part of roadusers causes accidents and crashesrdquo the report highlights adding that overspeeding drunk driving red light jumping avoiding safety gears like seat belts and helmets nonadherence to lane driving and overtaking wrongside driving is the ldquomost common mistakes or human errors committed by road users in MaharashtrardquoRoad experts and Regional Transport Office RTO officials said a flawed driving licence issuing system lack of effective road safety education improved road condition and the rise in the number of vehicles issuing online echallan instead of visible enforcement and lack of proper vehicle maintenance are some other major reasons for the rise in the number of accidents among the othersA road safety expert blamed the state government for failing to provide a proper road safety education to the last man or the enduser of roads as the current road safety campaigns are conducted in a very superficial and stereotypical mannerldquoThe procedure of issuing a driving licence should be revamped It should be made stricter and more effective The driving license should not be issued as a privilege of the personrdquo he said adding that driving is multifaceted and hence drivers should also have better knowledge about the theoretical part along with the driving skillsA retired RTO official said the condition of roads in Maharashtra has improved and the number of vehicles has also gone up but drivers lack seriousness about driving skills and they are not well trained in defensive driving skillsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever