The State witnessed a nearly 40 per cent rise in the number of persons getting killed in road accidents in 2010 compared to 2006.
Last year, 15,409 persons died owing to road accidents against 11,009 in 2006.
The year 2006 is regarded as the base year in the State government's Road Safety Policy of 2007 for achieving the medium-term objective of 20 per cent reduction in the number of persons getting injured and killed by 2013.
An analysis of the accidents that took place in 2010 reveals that of the total number of accidents of 64,996, those caused by two-wheelers accounted for 19,086 (29.4 per cent): cars/jeeps/taxis/tempos – 18,038 (27.7 per cent); trucks/lorries – 10,712 (16.5 per cent) and government buses – 4,898 (7.5 per cent) and private vehicles – 3,992 (6 per cent). In the case of government buses and private vehicles, the rate of accidents came down in 2010 compared to 2009.
Around 35 per cent of the accidents occurred on national highways; 32 per cent on State highways and 22 per cent on other district roads. Drivers' fault was the reason for most of the accidents (59,992) in which 14,078 persons died.
A senior official of the Transport Department says that though the number of fatal accidents has drastically increased, the figures have to be viewed in the context of the number of vehicles on the road. If one looks at the accident rate, which is the number of accidents per motor vehicle, there has been a marginal decline, he says.
According to him, areas of concern are light vehicle designs that provide greater momentum and the increasing menace of cell phone use.
As 50 per cent of State Transport bus drivers were identified to be between 45 and 60 years of age during a recent survey, regular eye checks are being organised.
