Road accidents are on the rise on Bengaluru streets; overspeeding, lack of awareness and infrastructure gaps blamed

This is despite a nearly 25% increase in the enforcement of traffic norms in the city — the number of cases booked for the first time crossed a crore in 2022

Published - June 17, 2023 10:51 pm IST - Bengaluru

The vehicles that were damaged in accidents on the Benglauru-Mysuru Expressway kept in Ramanagara.

The vehicles that were damaged in accidents on the Benglauru-Mysuru Expressway kept in Ramanagara. | Photo Credit: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.

An analysis of accidents on the city roads over the past three years — 2020, 2021, and 2022 — shows that the number of accidents in 2022 has risen by 120, compared to 2020, even as the number of fatalities has shot up by 115 during the same period. The number of pedestrians killed has also shot up from 164 in 2020 to 247 in 2022.

This is despite a nearly 25% increase in the enforcement of traffic norms in the city — the number of cases booked for the first time crossed a crore in 2022.

Bengaluru Traffic Police attributed the rise in the number of accidents and fatalities to a low base effect in 2020 and 2021, when during most parts of the year the city was under multiple lockdowns due to the pandemic.

Awareness about rules

M.N. Anucheth, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said the report helps them glean insights on the measures to be taken to make the streets safer. “For instance, the analysis shows that nearly 45% of the deceased have only high school level education. This indicates that they need more awareness about rules in a simpler format, which we are now working on,” he said.

The analysis also shows men are more likely to be victims of accidents than women. “On average, in the last three years, 600 males and 94 females became accident victims. Men in the 21 to 40 age group and women in the 31 to 50 age group were the majority of the victims,” the analysis said. This indicates men, especially in the age group of 21 - 40 years, are likely to drive rashly and overspeed, another area of focus for BTP.

The data show that on average, 163 people are killed in self-accidents every year, which can be easily avoided. Among them on average, 161 were men and only 3 were women. “Self-accidents can easily be averted by ensuring that the vehicle is maintained in good condition and by following defensive driving techniques, wearing a safety seat belt and protective headgear as the case may be, and by considerably reducing the speed of the vehicle during rainy and stormy weather,” the report said.

More vehicles

However, traffic expert Prof. M.N. Srihari said the accident analysis report did not dwell on the larger picture as to why accidents are on the rise on the city’s streets. He said as the vehicle population was increasing by manifolds, the road infrastructure available in the city was limited and even what was available was being unscientifically used.

“Nearly 60% of the streets are narrow with no scope for widening. Of the 298 major roads in and around the city that need to be widened, only 10% of them have been widened till now,” he said.

“A large number of accidents take place due to lack of motorable space and impediments on the roads, mainly encroached by parking,” he said. However, the three-year accident analysis report by BTP claims accidents due to defects or impediments on the roads came down from 38 in 2020 to 18 in 2022. He blamed the bad condition of footpaths and lack of pedestrian facilities, which force pedestrians to use the motorway, for the higher number of pedestrians getting killed on the city’s streets.

He blamed the city’s civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike for the increasing number of accidents on the city’s roads and said as an enforcement agency BTP could do little.

Two wheelers the most deadly on the street, bad helmets one of the key reasons

Bengaluru: The analysis of accidents over the past three years, has expectedly shown that riding two-wheelers are the most deadly on the city’s streets. This may also be because two-wheelers are over 60% of the city’s vehicle population too.

Of the 772 fatalities in 2022, 431 (55%) were two-wheeler riders, and 289 persons who caused the accident (37%) were two-wheeler riders. A quarter of the pedestrian deaths were caused by two-wheelers.

While among 431 two-wheeler riders who were killed, 112 were not wearing helmets, 319 were wearing helmets, raising questions about the effectiveness of wearing helmets in protecting lives.

“Many people wear helmets only to avoid being penalised by the traffic police and not for their own safety. They wear half helmets and low-quality helmets which clearly as the data shows do not protect their lives. BTP is working with NIMHANS to study the kind of head injuries people suffer in accidents and the best use of helmets,” M.N. Anucheth, Joint Commissioner (Traffic) said appealing to people to wear ISI-certified helmets that offered sufficient protection to their heads.

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