The renewed efforts by the city police to rein in fatal road accidents notwithstanding, data available with the police show that one life was lost every two days in the first six months of this year.
Going by records, the city witnessed 88 fatal accidents during the period, in which 91 persons lost their lives. Besides, 1,329 were injured in 1,095 non-fatal accidents.
The figures come in stark contrast to claims by the police that the introduction of the new traffic management plan has brought down the rate of accidents to below 150 since January this year as against 250 to 300 mishaps till December 2015.
Last year, road accidents in the city claimed as many as 159 lives, while the number of deaths reported in the year before was 136.
“This suggests that our roads continue to remain as unsafe as in previous years despite the introduction of new regulations. Barring some spots, various points along the roads between Edakochi and Thoppumpady and Edappally and Kumbalam still continue to be spots of bother, not to mention Container Road and Seaport-Airport Road,” conceded a senior police officer.
According to him, around 70 per cent of fatal accidents reported from the city involved two-wheelers.
“The fact that Kochi stands next to Thiruvananthapuram with 1, 235 deaths in just five years shows how serious the issue is. All these people were either driving two-wheelers or riding pillion and died mostly of severe head injuries,” he added.
Besides congested roads and drivers’ indifference to traffic rules, the presence of super bikes on city roads also contributes to the rising number of accidents. Further, the designed speed on roads in Kochi, with its uneven terrain and crossings, should be 80 km per hour, while these bikers regularly clock a speed of 120 kmph.
