THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Speeding, other traffic law violations, unscientific road design, bad lighting and lack of adequate warning signs near high-risk spots identified as major reasons. 201 people died in 769 mishaps in the city and 1,500 in rural limits in the district till June this year. Meeting today to discuss steps to be taken to reduce accidents across state
Even as the police have been carrying out various awareness drives to curb traffic violations, there is no dip in the number of road accidents in the district. Though the pandemic and subsequent lockdown reduced the number of accidents to an extent in 2020 and this year, the unscientific road design, and traffic law and speed violations still claim many lives on roads. As per the data available with the state police, a total of 2,269 accidents occurred till June this year. Of these, 769 mishaps took place in the city while 1,500 in rural limits. As many as 201 persons died in these accidents.
Last year, 3,557 road accidents were reported in the district -- 2,343 in rural limits and 1,214 in the city. In 2019, 5,222 accidents were reported in the district. Of these, 3,227 were reported in rural limits and 1,995 in the city. According to the statistics, 348 people lost their lives in various accidents that took place last year while 524 people died in 2019. Though the police erect barricades at various points on different roads, youngsters find ways to dodge the hurdles to indulge in the passion for speeding.
Their favourite haunts are roads such as Vellayambalam-Kowdiar and the newly developed NH 66 bypass. Many youngsters have been fined and warned against speeding, the police said. K Sanjay Kumar Gurudin, DIG ( south zone), told TNIE that an enforcement drive has been started for controlling speed, drunken driving and errant behaviour of the drivers, and it will be stricter in the coming days .
“Accidents have multiple causes such as dangerous and rash driving, speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, physical fatigue of drivers, mechanical condition of vehicles, and poor road conditions. The increasing vehicle density combined with less enforcement on roads had also contributed to more accidents in recent days. So, these need to be addressed,” he said. Motorists blamed the authorities for the accidents. They cite pothole-filled roads and bad lighting as the reasons for the accidents.
”Many accidents take place at night. The lack of proper illumination on the stretches and absence of signage makes driving very difficult in the night. For instance, there are no streetlights on the newly developed NH bypass. This puts the motorists at risk in the late hours. Apart from the enforcement drive, the authorities should give importance to maintaining the roads,” said K V Nithun, a techie working in Technopark.
Meanwhile, Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA) is yet to complete the report identifying the high-priority black spots in the district where more accidents had occurred in 2019, 2020 and this year. Usually, the authority prepares the report based on the findings of National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) by compiling the accident data of three years. As per the last report published in 2019, Pappanamcode junction is still the most critical ‘black spot’ of the state. The black spots were identified based on the data from 2016 to 2018.
“Efforts are on to identify new blackspots in the state. We have already intimated NATPAC to compile the data. The data has to be taken from the State Crime Records Bureau and police stations. So, it will take some time. However, a meeting chaired by the chief secretary will be convened on Thursday to discuss the steps to be taken to bring down the number of accidents and we will come up with solutions. Immediate actions will be taken including road markings and setting up of traffic signals on aa priority basis,” said Niju Azhageshan, director, Technical Support, KRSA. A place is identified as a black spot if five accidents causing fatalities or injuries or 10 fatalities have been reported in a 500-metre distance.
Of the 341 black spots in the district, 65 are located in the city including Karamana, Killippalam, Overbridge, Palayam, Kaimanam, Kesavadasapuram, Sreekariyam, Muttathara, Attingal and Pettah.
In rural limits, Attingal, Balaramapuram, Aralumoodu near Neyyattinkara , Amaravila, Kallambalam and Parassala are high-risk blackspots on the national highway under state PWD. On MC Road, the high-risk spots are at Paruthippara junction, Mannanthala junction, Kilimanoor junction, Gokulam Medical College-Alanthara and Kanyakulangara junction. Similarly, there are many roads in various local body wards have been identified as accident-prone.