Road journey in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh was dangerous, that is what the Accidental Deaths and Suicides of India, 2013 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau suggests.
Having witnessed 43,048 road accidents in the year 2013, erstwhile AP was positioned at the third place with Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra States being at first and second positions recording 66,238 and 43,863 road accidents, respectively.
What made the road travel risky in AP was the number of deaths. While 13,245 persons died in Maharashtra, the figure of road accident deaths in AP was 14,647. “Though Maharashtra recorded 815 more road accidents than AP, what makes the road journey unsafe in AP is 1,402 higher deaths reported there,” pointed out road safety activist S. Adishankar.
Maharashtra is bigger area-wise and has 70 lakh more vehicles than AP, yet the latter reported more deaths in road accidents. Lot of factors contribute to road accidents, including the road condition and rash driving. Whatever be the reasons, the NCRB data implies that road safety measures be improved in the State, said Mr. Adishankar.
The scenario was worst in Uttar Pradesh with 25,975 road crashes and 15,630 deaths, he added. However, all is not lost and concerted efforts of different government wings like police, transport department, roads and buildings department can prevent the loss of precious lives, said officials.
They base their argument on the fact that road accident deaths in 2013 in AP were less compared with 14,966 in 2012. The rate of accident calculated per every 1,000 vehicles and rate of deaths per every 100 road accidents too was less in 2013 with 1.2 and 34 compared to 1.5 and 38 reported in 2012.
