CHENNAI: The government is working to bring down the number of deaths caused by road accidents across the State. It is aiming to bring down the figure to 3,572 by 2020 as per the Action for Road Safety (2011-2020), introduced by the United Nations General Assembly.
According to the target for reduction of deaths resulting from accidents, 16,157 deaths were reported in the State 2017. This would be brought down to 11,962 in 2018, 7,767 in 2019 and 3,572 in 2020. It is estimated that Tamil Nadu loses nearly Rs 61 crore every day due to road fatalities alone. If grievous injuries are added to the above figure, the loss increases to around Rs 131 crore per day, which is around 3.5% of the State’s GDP.
As the vulnerable age group is often the potential working group, road accidents and the resulting trauma and costs of treatment pushes many families into poverty. To bring down such instances, the transport department is devising several measures, including the formation of the State Road Safety Council headed by the Transport Minister. It has also stepped up awareness campaigns.
Also, 272 highway patrolling vehicles across the state are being monitored by the state-level control room at the ADGP’s (traffic and road safety) office. The department had invested Rs 1,360.09 crore between 2014-15 and 2017-18 towards improvement of around 5,400 vulnerable road sections under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme (CRIDP) and special road safety programmes. Every year, the state government allocates Rs 65 crore under Road Safety Funds.
The department had also identified 169 high-risk spots in 2016-17 and another 64 spots in 2017-18, based on the fatalities and taken up improvement of these zones. Thanks to these efforts, road crash fatalities have declined from 17,218 in 2016 to 16,157 in 2017. The average number of deaths per day in road crashes was 47 in 2016, and this has come down to 44 in 2017.
Crash injures have also come down to 204 from 272. Rise in awareness among road users about the use of helmets has also contributed to this slide.
Meanwhile, the state police are trying innovative methods to reduce accident rates. Last year, the city police released a video on road safety rules. The four-minute video featuring ‘Gaana Bala’ highlights the common violations of traffic rules and its dangerous consequences. “The video was uploaded on social networking sites to increase the awareness on road safety and traffic rules.” said the city police commissioner A K Viswanathan.