World Bank lauds Himachal Pradesh Police for reduction in road mishaps, deaths

Sameer Singh

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Shimla, October 23

A World Bank team has lauded the state Police Department for putting in strenuous efforts towards making road safety a priority and reducing road traffic accidents (RTAs) and fatalities in the state. A high-level review meeting of a five-member World Bank team, headed by Vijetha Bezzam, co-task team leader with officers of the State Police Department, was conducted at the Police Headquarters recently.

As per record of the State Police Department, road traffic accidents (RTAs) have reduced from 3,114 to 2,597 from 2017 to 2022. Similarly, fatalities have reduced from 1,203 to 1,032 and injuries from 5,452 to 4,133 during the same period.

There is 11 per cent reduction in RTAs, 17 per cent reduction in fatalities and 13 per cent reduction in injuries between January 1 and October 2023 in comparison to the similar period last year. This has been achieved by the State Police, despite 10 per cent growth of road lengths, nine per cent growth of vehicle registration annually and ever-increasing tourist inflow, as per records of the state Police Department.

The World Bank team has appreciated the efforts of the HP Police for its achievements in terms of road safety, including use of technology-based enforcement, online compounding of e-challans, weekly review by police headquarters, road safety activities through CSR, real-time information dissemination through social media platforms and wider community participation.

The fatality rate in road traffic accidents in state is higher than the national average. As per records of the HP Police, road traffic accidents (RTAs) deaths per lakh of population in the state is 13.77 per cent against the national average of 10.93 per cent.

The data further revealed that as against national average of 29.30 per cent RTAs per lakh of population, the state had a higher rate of 31.54 per cent.

Representatives from Himachal Pradesh Road and Other Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, Transport Research Laboratory, London, were also present at the meeting. Officials of the Police Department made a detailed presentation based on the New York Police Department model of deep analytics which reflects that the road safety is poor than national average, both in terms of population and vehicle numbers.

Accidents reduced to 2,597 in 5 years

As per police records, road traffic accidents (RTAs) from 2017 to 2022 have reduced from 3,114 to 2,597. Similarly, the fatalities have reduced from 1,203 to 1,032 and injuries from 5,452 to 4,133 during the same period.