Deaths due to road accidents across the state increased by nearly 16% from January to September this year as against the three corresponding quarters in 2020. This was revealed in the latest data shared by the state crime branch with the transport department.
Altogether 3,708 persons have died in road accidents in the first nine months of this year. This figure had stood at 3,197 for the same period in 2020.
There has been a steady increase in the number of fatalities from 2014 (3,931 deaths) to 2020 (4,738deaths), a jump of about 21%. This despite theSupreme Courtcommittee on road safety having asked the states to take steps to reduce fatalities by 10% every year from 2015 onwards.
The Supreme Court committee observed that though the violation of helmet law resulted in about 41% deaths, the did precious little to address the issue. The committee also expressed displeasure over poor enforcement related to suspension of DLs in 2020 and 2021. Over-speeding contributed to 69% of the accidents, but action against the violators has been lacking, the committee observed.