Thanks to curbs, road mishaps in Himachal dip by 24.2% till Oct

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 10

Road accidents have declined by 24.2 per cent in the state this year (till October), thanks to curbs on vehicular movement during the lockdown and predictive and proactive policing during the unlock down period.

While people faced a lot of inconvenience during the lockdown and the economy and sectors such as tourism, transport, education and industry were severely hit, the curbs on vehicular movement resulted in a sharp fall in the number of accidents and accidental deaths.

As many as 671 persons died while 2,520 persons were injured in 1,791 accidents till October this year, as compared to 820 deaths and injuries to 4,068 persons in 2,362 accidents during the corresponding period last year.

As per the data compiled by the Road Accident Data Management System (RADMS), the maximum number of accidents occurred due to overspeeding, dangerous and negligent driving, overtaking, bad road conditions, drugs and alcohol abuse and other reasons, including adverse weather conditions and mechanical faults.

“Predictive policing, district-wise daily geographical accident mapping, root-cause analysis, micro management and a weekly review of the situation helped the police to identify the reasons of accidents, categories of vehicles involved, accident-prone stretches and roads and timings of accidents and take remedial steps, identify black spots, increase deployment of traffic police at vulnerable points during the peak time (6 pm to 8 pm),” said DGP Sanjay Kundu.

The data analysis reveals that 59 accidents took place last week (November 1 to 7). The maximum number of 15 accidents occurred in Shimla, followed by 11 in Kangra, and seven each in Una and Mandi districts. A total of 84 vehicles were involved in the accidents.

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