Fatal road accidents down, say police

‘Cancellation of licences of those involved in accidents has contributed to decline’

The decision by the traffic police to suspend and cancel the licences of drivers who were at fault in fatal road accidents last year led to a decrease in the number of deaths on roads, they claimed.

Till a couple of years ago, the police were not concentrating on suspending/cancelling licences of drivers involved in fatal accidents or drunken driving. “Now, we punch a hole in the licence if the driver is found guilty. This is having an impact on motorists and the number of accidents is coming down,” a senior police officer said.

In the last year, 5,903 licences of those involved in road accidents have been suspended and 16,616 licences are in the process of getting cancelled. However, some experts call for even stricter action. “The police should publicise the names of those whose licences have been cancelled,” said R. Desikan, a consumer activist who is also a member of Automobile Association of India.

Citing statistics at a press meet held on Monday, city police commissioner S. George said the number of accidents has come down when compared to previous years.

“There has been a 23 per cent dip in the number of accident deaths in 2014, when compared to 2012 and a 19 per cent drop when compared to 2013,” said the commissioner. The cases too have come down by 23 and 18 per cent respectively.

Most of the accidents in the city take place between 6 p.m. and midnight. “A total of 377 people were killed between these hours in 2014. Most of them are due to drunken driving,” added the commissioner.

The police claim to be cracking down on drunken driving too. “In 2014, 55, 288 cases were booked and 46,140 people have been convicted. We have 62 checking points across the city on weekdays and 124 on weekends, apart from the 85 check points manned by law and order officers,” said P. Thamaraikannan, additional commissioner of police (Traffic).

The police will be intensifying checks on drunken driving across the city. “We have 150 blinkers across the city and we are in the process of procuring more. This will reduce over-speeding,” said the commissioner.