VIJAYAWADA: Krishna district saw nearly 22 per cent rise in the number of persons killed in road accidents in 2021 compared to 2020. As many as 667 people died and 2,017 others were injured in 2,048 road accidents that took place last year, according to a report prepared by the Andhra Pradesh Road Safety Council.
A majority of the accidents involved two-wheelers, whose riders were not wearing helmets, and heavy vehicles. The report cited riders’ and motorists’ “lack of attention on roads” as one of the reasons that led to pedestrian deaths.Other reasons cited for the rise in road accident deaths were overspeeding on highways, two-wheelers being hit by heavy vehicles while overtaking and drunk driving.
A senior transport department official told TNIE: “Though the number of fatal accidents has drastically increased, the figure has to be viewed in context of the number of vehicles plying on roads. 2020 witnessed 1,761 accidents which claimed 547 lives and left 1,500 injured when curfew restrictions were in place. This made a difference in the statistics.”
Meanwhile, rash and negligent driving remained the leading reason for the high road accident toll. In some cases, bad road engineering also played a role. The data revealed that around 65 per cent of the road accident deaths were reported on highways. In a majority of them, head injury was the cause of death. As per the Supreme Court guidelines, district road safety committees should meet four times a year. Due to the pandemic, however, the meetings could not be held since January 2021.
The official said planning is underway to conduct awareness camps to ensure that people follow traffic norms. “Special drives will be organised on using helmets and preventing dangerous driving to bring down road accidents. Enforcement drives against the use of unauthorised number plates/stickers, and high beam lights will also held. NHAI officials will be asked to install caution boards near the
black spots.