With 98 road accident deaths, 2018 toll lowest in 22 years

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 4

The city witnessed 98 road accident deaths during 2018, the lowest in the past at least 22 years. Rash driving was behind 93.72 per cent road accidents reported from the city last year. Of the 316 road accident cases registered in the city, 293 were due to rash driving.

A road crash analysis done by the Road Safety Cell of the traffic police states that the number of deaths reported last year was the lowest in the past 22 years.

The city saw a fall in road accident deaths in comparison to 2017 when 107 persons had died in road accidents. While 342 accidents were reported in 2017, the number fell to 316 in 2018.

According to the police, of the 316 accidents, 219 were non-fatal and 97 fatal. Of the total accidents, 293 were due to rash driving, while 12 were caused due to drunken driving, 10 due to red light jumping and one due to wrong-side driving.

Among the road accident deaths, 40.81 per cent were two-wheeler riders, 35.71 per cent were pedestrians, while 11.22 per cent were cyclists.

Among the 98 people who died on city roads, 83 were male, while the remaining 15 were females.

According to the study, 149 accidents took place after the vehicles were hit from the side, which left 50 people dead and 140 injured. Similarly, 108 accidents took place after the victims were hit from the rear, which led to the death of 35 persons and left 87 injured. Interestingly, only 41 accidents took place due to head-on collision that left eight dead and 57 injured. The remaining 18 accidents took place due to various other reasons, including hit-and-run, with parked vehicle and collision with a fixed object on the roadside.

“A majority of the road accidents could have been averted had people driven sensibly,” said a police official.

The maximum deaths were reported in March when 15 people died followed by January and December when 11 people each died.