In spite of awareness campaigns and strict enforcement of traffic rules to bring down road accidents in the State, the accident rate seems to be only climbing up.
According to statistics released by the State police on Tuesday, 4,286 people were killed in accidents in the State in 2012. The previous year, 4,145 persons were killed in accidents.
The highest number of accidents in 2012 was in Ernakulam district, 5,718, followed by Thiruvananthapuram district, 4,618. Wayanad accounted for the lowest with 579 accidents. Ernakulam topped the death rate with 546, followed by Thiruvananthapuram, 450. Wayanad had the lowest, 67. In 2011 too, Ernakulam district accounted for the highest number of accidents and deaths, 5,251 and 437 respectively.
The number of accidents that occurred in the State in 2012 was 36,174 and in 2011, 35,216. The number of persons grievously injured in accidents in 2012 was 26,034 and 15,881 suffered injuries that were not very serious. The corresponding figures for 2011 were 25,110 and 16,269.
In 2012, 20,081 accidents occurred on roads other than State and National Highways. The number of accidents on National Highways was 9,375 and on State Highways, 6,718. In 2011, the corresponding figures were 19,296, 9,519 and 6,401. The corresponding figures for 2011 were 19,296, 9,519 and 6,401.
Two-wheelers were involved in 25,445 accidents in the State in 2012. Cars accounted for 10,365 accidents, autorickshaws for 7,222, private buses for 3,819, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses for 1,435, lorries for 2,072, mini-lorries for 1,967 and jeeps for 1,019 accidents.
In 2011, two-wheelers accounted for the highest number of accidents, 23,637. Cars were involved in 9,871 accidents, autorickshaws in 6, 920, private buses in 4,003, KSRTC buses in 1,368, lorries in 2,194, mini-lorries in 1,197 accidents and jeeps in 1,096.
While rash driving was the cause for 35,128 deaths in road accidents during 2012, according to the statistics, drunk driving accounted for 168 deaths.
As many as 878 deaths occurred owing to other reasons. The corresponding figures for 2011 were 34,186, 101 and 929. The statistics show that 27,145 accidents in 2012 occurred during daytime and 9,029 during night. The figures for 2011 were 26,202 and 9,014.
