A woman from Kalamassery, who sustained severe head injuries in a two-wheeler accident on Wednesday afternoon, died at a hospital here on Thursday.
Laila, 53, was riding pillion on a two-wheeler being driven by her son when she fell off near a speed hump on the CUSAT campus.
She was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to her injuries.
Rising number of road tragedies
The incident, according to officials with the city traffic police, is just among the rising number of road accidents involving two-wheelers in the city. Despite a number of preventive measures, two-wheelers continue to lead in the number of road accidents in the city.
For instance, of the 194 road mishaps reported in Kochi in February, at least 150 were involving two-wheelers. Similarly, nine out of the 15 accident deaths reported during the month were also two-wheeler riders and among these, at least three were not wearing helmets. During the period, 98 persons including 21 pillion riders sustained severe injuries in various accidents, in addition to 15 cases of minor injuries.
As many as 137 persons were killed and 2,600 injured in 2,503 road accidents reported in Kochi during 2017. Among these, about 70% of cases were those involving two-wheelers.
Of the total accidents, at lest 1,300 accidents were attributed to rash and negligent driving while there were also instances of the driver dozing off, leading to collisions.
Officials attribute the rising number of two-wheeler accidents to over-speeding and reckless driving, especially by young riders with high-speed motorbikes.
“The department may have initiated so many measures to rein in errant two-wheelers, though concerns still linger over incidence of rash, negligent and drunken driving,” said a top official with the city traffic police.
A majority of these accidents took place either between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. or 3 p.m and 8 p.m. “During peak traffic hours, commuters often do not show the patience for traffic norms, which in turn raises the number of accidents further,’’ the officail added.
