As many as 2,093 people were killed, 12,966 sustained serious injuries and another 8,552 suffered minor injuries in 18,316 road accidents that took place in the State during the first six months of the year.
Thiruvananthapuram district with 257 deaths tops the table followed by Ernakulam with 241 deaths, Thrissur (236), Alappuzha (197) Kollam (194), Palakkad (177) and Malappuram (165) during the January-June period, according to the statistics compiled by the State Crime Records Bureau. The lowest number of deaths (30) among the 14 districts of the State was reported from Wayanad.
A break-up of the road accidents shows that Ernakulam district recorded the highest number of 2,657 cases, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (2,227), Thrissur (2,104) and Kozhikode (1,654) cases. Alappuzha district recorded 1,548 road accidents, Kollam 1,402 cases, Malappuram 1,393 cases and Palakkad 1,138 cases. Wayanad district had just 329 road accidents in the period.
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Among the grievously injured, the highest number of 1,885 was reported from Ernakulam district. Thiruvananthapuram district with 1,836 grievous injuries, Thrissur (1,618), Kollam (1,149), Alappuzha (1,097) and Kozhikode (1,061) followed Ernakulam.
Rash driving
According to the Bureau, 17,929 of the accidents in the period were due to rash driving and 27 due to drunk driving. Among the districts, the highest number of 1,632 accidents due to rash driving was reported from Kozhikode district followed by 1,048 in Ernakulam and 917 in Thiruvananthapuram. Nearly 13,430 accidents took place during the daytime and 4,886 during the night.
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An analysis of the type of road where the mishaps took place shows that 4,834 accidents took place in national highways, 3,518 in State highways and 9,964 in other road networks. The highest number of 595 accidents in the national highways had taken place in Alappuzha district. It was followed by 561 in Kollam and 493 in Thrissur.
As many as 11,922 two-wheelers were involved in the accidents. Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses were involved in 655 accidents, private buses in 2,043, lorries in 1,250, mini bus in 1,058, cars in 5,149, jeeps in 673 and autorickshaws in 3,703 road accidents.
Last year, 3,674 people were killed, 24,188 suffered serious injuries and 16,221 suffered minor injuries in 35,337 road accidents in the State. In 2008, 3,897 people were killed, 25,605 suffered grievous injuries and 18,236 suffered minor injuries in 37,263 road accidents. In 2007, 3,778 people died, 26977 suffered serious injuries and 21,269 received minor injuries in 39,917 road accidents.