220 new accident black spots identified in state, total count 678

In a major stride towards road safety, Punjab has been able to eliminate 125 black spots, while 220 new accident-prone areas have been identified in the state, a recent report has revealed. This was made possible due to a sustained road safety campaign.

With maximum 127 black spots (96 old one and 31 newly identified), Ludhiana continues to carry the dubious distinction of being the “most accident-prone” district in the state.

A research on identification and rectification of accident black spots was conducted by the Punjab Road Safety and Traffic Research Centre (PRSTRC), led by Director Dr Navdeep K Asija, with the help of the Punjab Police.

The research findings titled, “Road Accident Blackspot Identification and Rectification in Punjab 2020-22 Phase-IV”, was made part of the annual report on “Road Crashes and Traffic in Punjab 2023”, which was released by DGP Gaurav Yadav recently.

The report, prepared by a team of experts led by ADGP (Traffic and Road Safety) AS Rai, revealed that 220 new accident black spots were identified across 23 administrative districts, comprising 25 police districts and three police commissionerates during the Phase-IV of the recent study period between 2020 and 2022. This took the total tally of black spots to 678 in the state as 458 of the total 583 such spots that were identified during the Phase-III of the study conducted between 2019 and 2021 still existed after 125 of them were rectified/eliminated.

Sharing details, Dr Asija, who is also the Traffic Adviser to the Punjab Government, said the identification was done following an extensive research of various roads in the state.

Rai, who has been spearheading the sustained road safety campaign for the past few years and has recently constituted the country’s first road safety force in the state, said the elimination of over 21 per cent black spots had made roads comparatively safer in Punjab.

Of the 458 existing accident black spots analysed, 356 (78 per cent) were located on national highways, followed by 36 (8 per cent) on state highways, 31 (7 per cent) on urban MC roads, 19 (4 per cent) on other district roads, 15 (3 per cent) on major district roads, signifying areas requiring targeted improvements, Dr Asija said.