KOCHI: Being on the road between 6 pm and 9 pm is extremely dangerous for a motorist in Kerala as the latest accident data reveals a shocking fact that most number of fatal mishaps occur during the said time while the least number of accidents takes place between midnight and 3 am.
As per the data for 2018, 901 people were killed in 8,382 accidents reported between 6 pm and 9 pm while 215 deaths from 914 accidents were reported during the time period between midnight and 3 am.
The time period between 3 pm and 6 pm is also considered highly risky as 698 persons were killed in the said period from 8,011 accidents. The overall analysis of the data shows that the maximum number of accidents takes place during day time compared to night. While 26,263 accidents were reported between 6 am and 6 pm killing 2,381 persons, 1,913 people were killed in 13,856 accidents reported between 6 pm and 6 am. Also, National Highways and state highways in Kerala are much safer compared to other roads if one goes by the data prepared by the state police in 2018. While 2,179 people were killed in roads categorised as other, 1,248 people were killed in national highways and 876 in state highways.
“There is a specific reason for the higher number of accidents between 6 pm and 9 pm. People are in a mad rush to reach home from office and there is a heavy rush of vehicles on the roads during this time. Moreover, all long-distance tankers and lorries hit the road during this time,” said Indian Institute of Road Safety director and road safety trainer Upendra Narayanan.
When it comes to regions in the state, Alappuzha accounted for the highest number of 373 deaths from 3,489 accidents followed by Malappuram with 367 deaths from 2,423 accidents and Palakkad with 347 deaths from 2,411 accidents. As per the data, overspeeding resulted in 2,985 deaths from 29,775 accidents while drunken driving only caused 25 deaths from 157 accidents.
