BHUBANESWAR: Heightened enforcement and use of technology against traffic violations notwithstanding, over-speeding continued to be the leading cause of deaths in the state accounting for around 67 per cent of the total road fatalities in 2022.
As per the annual ‘Road accidents in India’ report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Odisha recorded 5,467 deaths in 11,663 accidents last year. Of the total road fatalities, over-speeding caused the highest 3,675 deaths leaving 6,314 injured.
Deaths due to driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, use of mobile phones while driving, wrong side driving and jumping red lights were other contributing factors behind the rising road fatalities, which saw 7.6 pc growth as compared to 2021 when 5,081 deaths in 10,983 accidents were recorded. The report revealed that as many as 120 persons died due to use of mobile phone while driving. At least 432 deaths were caused by driving on the wrong side, while 34 due to jumping red lights. Drunken driving claimed 301 lives. Another 905 persons died due to other types of traffic violations.
Under road user category, two-wheeler riders bore the brunt as 2,498 persons were killed in road accidents, while 800 pedestrians, 625 car, taxi and light motor vehicle users, 498 truck/lorry users, 199 bicycle riders, 142 auto-rickshaw riders and 139 bus passengers died in the accidents besides 625 others.The report revealed on an average, 15 people were killed in road accidents in the state everyday in 2022. The number of fatal mishaps rose from 4,756 in 2021 to 5,140 in 2022.
In terms of severity of road accidents, the state registered 47 pc deaths against the national average of 36.5 pc. National highways passing through the state reported 4,317 accidents and 2,043 deaths. Member of state road safety committee and high court lawyer Subrat Nanda said excess speed is a key risk factor for road accidents and greater severity of the injuries in the state. Though the state government has been focusing on strengthening trauma care to save accident victims, rash driving is a cause of concern due to inadequate measures to curb it, he pointed out.
Road safety experts demanded the state must curb over-speeding and dangerous driving with deployment of automatic speed enforcement devices like surveillance cameras and speed interceptors on all highways and city roads and imposing penalties like suspension of driving licences.
