Accidents down post ban on liquor shops near highways

Study analyses road accidents over five-year period

Did a ban on liquor shops near highways lead to dip in accidents in 2017? Yes.

This is one of the conclusions from a confidential study commissioned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to analyse road accidents in the country. Using up-to-date accident statistics over a five-year period, the MoRTH document concludes that “No major initiative led impact in 2017 except for ban of liquor shops along highways.”

Ban since April 2017

In December 2016, the Supreme Court had ordered a ban on sale of liquor within 500 metres of highways from April 2017. In the first half of 2017 when the ban came into force, there was a 3% reduction in road accidents and a 4.75% reduction in road fatalities.

The dip in accidents was reflected in Telangana, too, with as many as 6,596 fatalities in 2017 as against 7,219 in 2016. India has the dubious distinction of having the highest road accidents and fatality rates in the world with one death every 3.5 minutes.

However, in 2017, 18% accidents were caused due to use of mobile phones and driver fatigue.

Black spots

Worryingly, the new data also reveals that India has to deal with 3,696 black spots on its National Highways as against just 789 according to data from 2015. Black spots are being notified when repeated accidents/fatalities take place on a stretch of road due to engineering defects or other reasons.

The hope for increasing use of online transactions by Road Transport authorities across the country leading to reduction in the role of touts and brokers has been belied, data reveals.

About 20% drivers have never undergone any tests and acquired licence through agents. The data also reveals that among the 10,000 minors who were killed in road accidents, 3,976 were from Telangana, the highest, followed by 2,391 in West Bengal and 2,325 in Madhya Pradesh.

Ironically, better road infrastructure might also be a factor for current level of road accidents as over speeding is blamed for 76% of road accidents nationally and 97% in Telangana. Telangana is among the 5 major States — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh — where 72% of the serious and fatal accidents were due to head-on collision on four-lane road or more with a median in the middle.

“This is the first step in trying to lower road fatalities. We have to first understand the main reasons for the accidents. This scientific collection of data gives the necessary perspective to policy makers,” said Raman Deep Chaudhury of MoRTH, talking about how this data will be used.