NEW DELHI: On the capital’s roads, April is indeed the cruellest month. Thursday is the cruellest day and the hour between 10-11 pm the cruellest time, which is when most fatal accidents happen.
According to the latest Delhi Traffic Police survey, the maximum number of road deaths in April alone was 161 followed by 148 in November. The study, based on yearly data collected till 2015, was analysed by a group of top officers over five months. They discovered each Thursday claimed one life. “We are studying the pattern to prevent road accidents, though their number is already going down,” said Special Commissioner-Traffic Ajay Kashyap.
There were 1,519 road deaths in the city between January 1 and December 15, last year, compared to 1,582 in 2015. As many as 1,471 people died in accidents like pedestrians being run over in 2016. The simple accident rate also dived to 5,476 from 6,054 in 2015.
Almost 40 per cent (623) of fatal accidents are hit and run, leaving cops clueless about the vehicle or its driver. After many twists and turns of deception and proxy confessions, they are yet to determine the driver in the Ghaziabad hit and run case in which a doctor’s Audi killed four in Ghaziabad. They also haven’t identified the driver of a BMW X5, which rammed into a private taxi, killing the cab driver. Both drivers had dodgy excuses.
In more than 40 per cent of hit-and-run cases in the city, the reason for the accident is unknown. “The major cause may be a mix of drunken driving and over speeding,” said a senior traffic police official involved in interpreting the data collected till 2015.
The family of Sidharth Sharma, killed in Civil Lines last year by a speeding Mercedes, is still seeking justice. Says his grieving sister Shilpa, “Initially, the owner persuaded his chauffeur to be the scapegoat. He backtracked when he knew Sidharth died. The cops refused to cooperate. They didn’t even visit the house of the accused, on the pretext that nobody can be called to a police station after 10 pm. Don’t expect help from the police if an accident happens at night.”
The study reveals that the most dangerous time to be on the road is between 9 and 10 pm when the maximum number of accidents occur. Almost 120 people lost their lives during this fatal hour in 2015—a trend that has remained almost unchanged for the last three years. Major death zones are Mangolpuri, Model Town and Kalkaji, where the maximum number of people have met with accidents.
Highways connecting Delhi are life threatening due to the movement of heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses on GT Karnal Road, Grand Trunk Road and NH-8.
Roads connecting hospitals such as AIIMS and Safdarjang Hospital, metro stations at Sarita Vihar and Tughlaqabad and luxury hotels such as Radisson near the airport and the Hilton, Janakpuri, are dangerous for both pedestrians and drivers.
There are around eight hospitals, four luxury hotels, 17 metro stations and five bus stands, where more people have died than on any other accident-prone stretch.