INVC NEWS
Chandigarh/Ludhiana/Amritsar
The International Road Federation, (IRF) a Geneva based not-for-profit Organization promoting the cause of Safe Roads and Smart Mobility worldwide has shared its concern over the growing incidences of fatal road accidents in the country, particularly with regard to states of Punjab and Haryana which account for maximum road accident deaths in the country, in terms of severity of fatalities and injuries.
The International Road Federation (IRF) has urged the Chief Ministers of Haryana and Punjab to join hands with IRF in reducing deaths during road accidents in both the statesboth state account for one of the highest road deaths in the country . Haryana ranks 14th and Punjab ranks 18th and in number of fatal road accidents among top 20 states in the country with Uttar Pradesh topping ranking as per the Road Accidents report for the year 2018 released by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
“with 5118 persons being killed in 11,238 road accidents during the year 2018 Haryana ranks 14th and with 4740 deaths in 6428 road accidents Punjab ranks 18th among various states in the country. . About 328 persons died road accidents in Ludhiana alone during the year 2018.” said Mr K K Kapila, President, Emeritus, International Road federation (IRF)
“During the year 2018 a total number 1.51 lakh people died of 4,67 lakh road accidents and 4,69 lakh got injured as reported by the states and Union territories in the country. The Union Territory of Chandigarh accounted for 98 road accident deaths of 316 road accidents .Chandigarh had 29th ranking in the country” Mr Kapila said.
As revealed by the MoRTH report, major reasons behind the fatal road accidents include hit and run, wrong-side driving, collisions with parked vehicles, bad road conditions, speeding, not wearing helmets etc.
As the report further claims, speeding was one of the primary reasons for fatalities due to road accidents with 64.4 per cent share, while wrong-side driving caused 5.8 per cent deaths.
Vehicles moving on the wrong side of roads have killed 24 people every day on an average in 2018 across the country, while accidents due to collisions with parked vehicles resulted in 4,780 deaths.
Two-wheelers accounted for 35.2 per cent share in total accidents and 31.4 per cent in total fatalities in 2018. Light passenger vehicles comprising cars, UVs and taxis accounted for 24.3 per cent share in total accidents and 20,3 per cent in total fatalities.
According to latest data released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, among all the million-plus cities in India, roads were deadliest in Ludhiana and Amritsar.
“ India accounts for more than 12 per cent of the total fatal road accidents worldwide. India is a signatory to the UN Decade of Action and is committed to bring down the road accident fatalities by 50% by 2020.’’ said Mr K K Kapila.’’
“The States of Haryana and Punjab should join hands with IRF which works for safer and better roads world wide to reduce fatal road accidents in the Two states” Said Mr Kapila
