BENGALURU: Six people died in a road accident on August 5 in Yadgir, nine died and 14 sustained injuries in Tumakuru on August 25, three persons, including a newborn and his mother, died in a road accident in Vijayapura on September 1. The list of deaths is long, and accidents regular in Karnataka, but there is little or no work being done on the ground to reduce them.
According to Road Safety Authority, a wing of the Transport department, 44,011 accidents were reported in 2015, which dropped to 34,647 in 2021, a 21.3 per cent decline. Till March 2022, the department recorded 34,394 road accidents in Karnataka. The target of the Transport department and National Highway Authority for 2025 is to reduce the number by 50 per cent, but it seems to be a far-fetched aspiration. This is because of a lack of coordination among enforcing agencies and their blame game.
Transport officials admit that 70 per cent of road accidents are due to overspeeding and 90 per cent due to human error.
C Mallikarjun, enforcement office, Transport department, told TNIE, “RTO is working with 33 per cent staff strength. Vacancies of road inspectors is 62 per cent. It is the joint responsibility of the traffic police and RTO inspectors to check, but due to staff crunch, vehicles go unchecked, even in urban areas.”
Despite the staff crunch, departments stress on physical checks and are not keen on using technology. “Traffic interceptors should be stationed to check. Once recruitment is completed, inspectors will be stationed on the ground. We cannot place cameras as they are costly and there is no one to maintain them,” reasoned RTO officials.
If each case is assessed, most of the deceased and injured are family members or friends known to each other, or are labourers. Vehicles having a seating capacity of 10-12 carry 20-25 people. Labourers moving in goods vehicles are most prone to accidents. Overloaded goods vehicles pass through undetected, admitted J Gnanendrakumar, Director, Road Safety.
It has also been observed that most accidents occur between 2am and 4am. This is the time when people are in the hurry to reach cities early morning, so they are not late to work or for daily chores, as in the case of Tumakuru Road and Sira, Mallikarjuna pointed out.
Good and bad roads are equally to blame for rising road accidents. On one hand, traffic-free, pothole-free tolled roads are the prime cause of accidents as vehicles tend to overspeed; on the other, potholed stretches are also claiming lives, as was reported on the Magadi Road state highway in Bengaluru on August 24.
“We are supposed to give citizens good roads. Enforcement is the onus of the traffic police and transport department. Commuters should also take responsibility and follow traffic rules,” said Madhukar Wathore, NHAI, regional head, Bengaluru.
TUMAKURU
In the recent Tumakuru accident, the MUV meant for 12, plus driver, was carrying 22 passengers, apart from luggage. These kind of vehicles traverse long distances, and there is no mechanism to check at either tollgates or checkposts. RTO Saleem observed that drivers who know about checkpoints drop off extra travellers at spots ahead, and pick them up after crossing the checkpoints. Transport has also become expensive for BPL families, especially migrants, which is why they opt for overloading, despite it being risky. The driver does not have a backup either.
To avoid accidents, experts suggest that signals be put up at every deviation, and reflectors at every junction. Speedbreakers are a must at junctions. They also suggest putting up black spot signboards. “A special police squad should check for drink driving on highways. RTOs in every district should be provided with mobile LED vehicles to ply on highways, which also serve the purpose of creating awareness on road safety among the masses,” experts said.
SHIVAMOGGA
Activists said that potholed and low quality roads and failure to monitor rash drivers are the prime reasons for accidents these days. Construction of double roads inside city limits can ease traffic and avert accidents.
The police department recorded a total of 26 black spots in Shivamogga district. Vasanth Kumar, general secretary of Shivamogga Nagarika Hitarakshana Samiti, said potholes are the prime reason for most accidents in recent days, along with overspeeding among youngsters. Traffic police should use advanced mechanisms to check vehicle speed, he said.
HASSAN
Lack of road safety measures in Hassan, where four National Highways pass -- Bengaluru-Mangaluru NH75, Bengaluru-Honnavar NH206, Bilekere-Belur NH 371 and Kasaragod- Manappuram NH 373 -- are the major cause of accidents here. There are no basic safety measures, including road dividers, barricades, side and support walls, and signboards on either side of the highways. Offiicals said that 80 per cent of road accidents occurred on recently developed national highways, which are broad and smooth, prompting rash, negligent and reckless driving. Most accidents occurred in village limits when people were crossing roads with cattle. Five underpasses and four flyovers between Kadaballi in Mandya and Mandiganahalli in Hassan along NH75, are under construction. The stretch between Sakleshpur and Gundia on NH75 records the most accidents.
BELAGAVI
The situation in Belagavi is no different. Apart from bad roads, unscientific speedbreakers, absence of footpaths and lack of driving sense, it is overloaded heavy vehicles being permitted to ply on city roads without any restrictions or timings, which is leading to a rise in road accidents. Parents of school and college students had staged protests and even submitted memorandums to the police and transport department, but have had little effect.
KALABURAGI
Apart from people, civic officials and police, negligence by truck drivers on state and national highways is responsible for accidents in the city and its outskirts. Social activist Nagalingaiah Mathapati said signal jumping is common in the city. Traffic police should be posted on highways to monitor the movement of vehicles, and levy huge fines on drivers violating rules, he said.
Additional SP Prasanna Desai said 70 per cent of the accidents on state and national highways are due to negligent and rash driving by truck drivers, who are often sleepy during the early morning hours.
HUBBALLI
Road accidents have caused many deaths on the Hubballi-Dharwad bypass, Hubballi-Gadag Road, Hubballi-Vijayapura Road and in Hubballi city too. The Hubballi-Dharwad bypass (NH48) is a narrow two-lane road, which is the prime reason for accidents. On other roads, unscientific crosses and roads are the cause of accidents.
Sunil Nalavade, an urban activist, said that on highways, many truck drivers do not follow rules like placing caution triangle boards near their parked vehicles. Commuters change lanes on highways without switching on indicators. Highway authorities collect toll fee but don’t maintain roads, and the government should act if the agencies collect toll but fail to maintain roads, he added.
MANGALURU
Praveenchandra Shetty, former chairman of the Road Safety subcommittee, KCCI, Mangaluru, and author of the book ‘Mission: Advanced Road Safety 2019-2024’, said that in Dakshina Kannada, traffic police place barricades almost at all intersections, to control the speed of vehicles on state and national highways, which defeats the very purpose of construction of highways.
The barricades make it difficult for heavy goods vehicle drivers to make zig-zag turns and pass through. Poorly designed and constructed service roads are another matter of concern, and creation and maintenance of road markings are looked at as budget wastage. Improper approach from side roads to highways also leads to accidents.
(Inputs from Bosky Khanna/ Bengaluru; Devaraj B Hirehalli/Tumakuru; Arpitha I/Shivamogga; Udaya Kumar BR/Hassan; Tushar Majukar/Belagavi; Ramkrishna Badseshi/Kalaburagi; Arunkumar Huralimath/Hubballi; PramodKumar Vaidya/Dharwad; Divya Cutinho/Mangaluru)