BENGALURU: “The number of road accidents and deaths due to them has doubled in four years in Bengaluru. One of the major causes for road accidents is over-speeding,” said Additional Director General of Police (Recruitment) and Commissioner for Traffic and Road Safety KV Sharath Chandra.
“In 2020, 1,928 road accident cases were reported, and in 2024 till October 31, 3,969 cases. The number of road accident cases has more than doubled. Also in 2020, 344 fatalities were reported, which in 2024 increased to 723,” he said.
Sharath Chandra said Bengaluru tops Karnataka with the highest number of road accidents, injuries and fatalities, followed by Tumakuru.
Stating that the state government has taken many steps to prevent road accidents, Sharath Chandra said, “Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras have been installed on highways, and integrated traffic management solutions introduced. However, road accidents continue to happen and two-wheelers top the list.”
He said the state reported 34,178 road accidents with 9,720 deaths in 2020 to 43,440 accidents with 12,321 deaths in 2023. He called for a change in the attitude of people, who think accidents happen to others and not to them. With awareness, good road engineering and strict enforcement of rules, the number of accidents can be reduced.
He was speaking after launching the Karnataka State Road Safety Authority’s campaign, ‘Motorcycle Reconstruction’, organised here on Tuesday with technical support from Vital Strategies, a global public health organisation, under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety.
Road safety expert Dr G Gururaj, former director and professor, NIMHANS, said, “Even a slight difference in speed can decide the chances of an accident, its severity, and whether you will live or die.”