Road fury: 14 die every day in mishaps, says Traffic Advisor

Gurvinder Singh

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 28

Fourteen people die due to road accidents in Punjab every day. This was stated by Navdeep Aseeja, Traffic Advisor, Punjab Police, during a ‘Road Safety’ workshop organised by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Punjab State Road Safety Council at Guru Nanak Bhawan here today.

He said the quantum of road accidents needed to be reduced through scientific approach, data analysis, engineering and safety measures. The death rate due to accidents was three per cent — higher than national average of 2.3 per cent. He said around 5,000 people died in road accidents in the state last year. Though there was slight dip in the numbers earlier, they have started increasing since 2015. Over speeding and drinking were major reasons. He said there were 1,537 deaths on national highways and 1,484 deaths on state highways.

10% rise in accidents from October to December

Aseeja said there have been 10 per cent more deaths from October to December. There were 600 deaths due to fog and 73 deaths were due to stubble burning — those who accidentally drove into a burning field were burned alive. He said Mohali, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Rupnagar had witnessed more accidental fatalities.

‘Road design should be according to population’

He said maximum of those who died in road accidents were pedestrians and cyclists. He said contrary to the assumption that the population of car users has increased, there were 90 lakh registered vehicle in Punjab until 2015, and 76 per cent of these were two-wheelers and 15 per cent people owned cars. These cars occupied 90 per cent road space. “So the roads have to be designed with a focus on the safety of pedestrians and cyclists,” he said.

First state to launch road crash investigation system

He said a road crash investigation system has been launched in Punjab — first state in the country to do so. The DGP has instructed that accidents’ location should be marked properly and data collected, he said.

Sobriety check-posts soon

He said there were 38 toll plazas in the state and now sobriety check-post would also be set up at these toll plazas. Any driver found with an alcohol intake higher than permissible would not be allowed to go further unless the alcohol levels come down, Aseeja said.

Emergency-alert system

Dr Gurinder Bir Singh from the Health Department said there were 240 ambulances in the state, and dedicated mobiles to all ambulances and other departments had been given so that the hospitals were prepared for emergencies when the ambulances reached the trauma centres. He said this would help in coordination and communication in case of referrals from one hospital to another. He said those running roadside eateries would be trained to give first aid to accident victims, he said.

Need to change the mindset: ACP Traffic

Speaking about the issue of violations, ACP Traffic Dhruv Dahiya said the law enforcement should be impartial, irrespective of the social position. He said theoretical discussions were done about the capacity building, road engineering and safety, but there was a need to change the mindset in our society as ‘sifarish’ culture was much prevalent here.

Automated challans on the cards

The ACP said 300 cameras, including automated number place recognition cameras, had been installed. They would generate automated challans which would be sent by post. Under the e-challan project, automated machine would print them.

‘Efforts on to make roads accident-free’

State Transport Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said there was a need to isolate traffic violators. “We are going to make all efforts to make roads accident-free by 2020,” he said.