THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Motor accidents involving two-wheelers are once again emerging as a cause for concern in the district. More stringent checking and awareness generation initiatives by the police notwithstanding, in the past week alone, six men - three of them aged under 30 - died in separate accidents across Thiruvananthapuram city and rural police limits.
Last Wednesday, Pratheesh, 32, a motorcycle rider, died after his vehicle collided with a KSRTC bus near the Kundamonkadavu Bridge. Sujith, 24, a motorcycle rider, died following an accident at Attingal. On the morning of the same day, Radhakrishnan Nair, 55, of Peyad, died after his scooter collided with a tipper lorry.
On Friday night, 19-year-old Subash died after his bike ran into a tree at Vithura. Two other deaths involving two-wheelers occurred at Balaramapuram. R Radhakrishnan, 40, riding pillion, died after a car hit his bike on the National Highway. A 29-year-old, identified as Ganesh Kumar, died after an unidentified vehicle hit his two-wheeler and sped away without stopping. He died of head injuries.
Two-wheelers, predictably, top the list of vehicles involved in motor accidents during 2011 also, according to figures released by the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB). Last year, there were 587 accidents involving two-wheelers in the city limits, while the figure stood at a shocking 915 for the rural district. Motor cars were second in the list, accounting for 352 accidents in the city limits and 422 in the rural.
SCRB statistics also fault drivers of motor vehicles for majority of the accidents. Experts cite the phenomenal increase in the number of vehicles over the past decade, the absence of corresponding increase in the number and width of roads, and faulty driving as the major reasons for motor accidents. The number of vehicles has more than doubled during this period.