COURTESTY HT NOV 22
2018-19 DATA On an average, 8 road mishaps were recorded, killing 3 people daily

Naresh K Thakur

Naresh.kumar4@hindustantimes.com

Dharamshala : With about 100 deaths per month, Himachal Pradesh topped the chart of road crash deaths among the northern hill states, including Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand in 2018.

On an average, eight road accidents were recorded and three lives were lost daily last year, according to the Road Accidents in India- 2018 report released by transport research wing of the Union ministry of road transport and highways.

There were as many as 3, 110 road accidents in Himachal last year, in which 1,208 people were killed. The number of casualties in Himachal were highest among the three hill states.

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 5, 978 number of road accidents with total 984 casualties, least compared to the two neighbouring states. As many as 1,047 persons were killed in 1,468 road mishaps in Uttarakhand.

SPEEDING BEHIND MAXIMUM DEATHS

Number of deaths in Himachal rose by 0.4% over the previous year. Overall, the state is ranked 22nd in the country in terms of road accidents and 20th in terms of number of casualties.

Data revealed that traffic violations, primarily speeding, caused 536 deaths.

As many as 70 people died due to drunken driving and 60 were killed while driving on the wrong side. However, there is no record of deaths due to use of mobile phones.

The report reflects that safety is not a priority for travellers in Himachal. Not wearing helmets and seat belts are not causes of crashes, but are critical for avoiding grievous injuries and fatalities.

As many as 686 deaths were caused due to “not wearing a seat belt” while “not wearing a helmet” left 236 two-wheeler riders dead.

A maximum 538 people were killed in road accidents, involving light motor vehicles like car, jeep van and taxi.

Similarly, 293 people were killed in motorised two-wheeler accidents and 97 in bus accidents.

Rest 280 casualties occurred in accidents involving other vehicles including auto-rickshaw, trucks, tractors, etc.

Road are also to be blamed for tragedies in Himachal. As many as 115 people died due to bad road conditions, including potholes, steep-gradient and on under construction roads.

Aggravating the situation, a total of 384 accidents took place due to poor weather conditions, claiming as many as 196 lives.

Men accounted for about 84% of all road crash deaths in Himachal. Of total 1,208 casualties, 1,017 were male and 191 females.

Age wise, 96 victims were children of age less than 18 years; 192 of age group 18-25 years; 348 victims were between the age of 25-35 years; 218 of age 35-45 years; 240 between of age 45-60 years; 218 of age 35-45 years and remaining 114 of age 60 years or above.

In terms of severity of accidents, Himachal ranked 17th among all the states and union territories.

MINISTER points to HUMAN ERROR

Minister of transport Govind Singh Thakur said 95% of accidents in the state take place due to human errors and can be reduced if the commuters follow the traffic rules.

“The state government conducts awareness campaigns to ensure compliance of traffic rules and in last three months there has been a decline in the road accidents,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rajeshwar Singh Negi, chairman of Social Welfare Council, a NGO working on road safety issue, said human error is one of the factors behind road mishaps in the state, but it accounts much less than what the government is claiming.

“Bad roads, lack of crash barriers were also a major reason for the high number accident deaths in Himachal,” he said, adding that alcohol tests must be conducted on regular basis.