400 die in accidents daily, nearly half youth: Report

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 6

Haryana was among the top 13 states that accounted for more than 86.5 per cent of the total accidents reported in 2016, a report prepared by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has said. 

As many as 4.80 lakh accidents were reported last year, resulting in the loss of 1.5 lakh lives — 3.2 per cent more than the previous year’s figures. The accidents further inflicted injuries to 4.94 lakh persons.  An average of over 400 people died in road accidents daily, nearly half of them in the 18-35 age group.

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Of these, 11,234 accidents were reported in Haryana alone, while Punjab saw 6,952 accidents and Chandigarh 428. The number of fatalities in Haryana stood at 5,024 (3.3 per cent of the total deaths nationwide), while it was 5,077 (3.4 per cent) in Punjab.

The working age group of 18-60 accounted for a share of 83.3 per cent of the total road accident fatalities. While 68.6 per cent of the victims belonged to the 18-45 year age group, 46.3 per cent were from 18-35 age group.

Minister Nitin Gadkari, while releasing the report today, said Tamil Nadu witnessed the highest number of road accidents with a percentage share of 14.9 per cent, followed by Madhya Pradesh 11.2 per cent and Karnataka 9.2 per cent.

In case of accident deaths, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with a percentage share of 12.8 per cent, followed by Tamil Nadu 11.4 per cent and Maharashtra 8.6 per cent.

The key factors behind the accidents remained road defects, engineering defects in vehicles, no facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, exceeding speed limit, drunken driving, jumping red lights, driving on wrong sides, changing lanes, overtaking, using phones while driving and not wearing helmet.

2-wheelers most prone

• Two-wheeler riders were involved in 34.8% of road accidents. Cars, taxis and vans constituted 17.9%, trucks 11.2%, buses 6.6%, bicycles 1.7% and pedestrians 1.5% of accidents 
• On an average, 17 people died in 55 road accidents per hour last year