This year, Delhi witnessed four deaths daily on average because of road accidents. Nearly half of these deaths — 44% — were hit-and-run cases, suggests the accident analysis report of Delhi Traffic Police with figures updated until May 15.
The numbers are down from last year though. In 2018, 637 fatal accidents and 656 deaths were reported in the city until May 15. “Over the same period this year, 534 fatal accidents that claimed 551 lives have been reported. The data include all categories of vehicles, including two-wheelers,” said a traffic police officer.
“We have noted a 16% fall in the total number of accidents reported in the city,” said Meenu Choudhary, Joint CP, Traffic (Operations).
Biggest killers
The biggest killers on the road were private cars followed by goods vehicles, causing 95 and 63 deaths respectively. Two-wheelers came next, responsible for a total of 50 deaths.
E-rickshaws re-entered the list: they killed two persons this year as opposed to none earlier. “We are planning a major drive to check reckless driving by e-rickshaw drivers. Unauthorised stoppages by these drivers cause traffic jams and often lead to minor accidents. We keep issuing challans but need to do more since the number of e-rickshaws is growing rapidly in the city,” said the officer.
Buses of all shades were another major culprit, claiming 36 lives. DTC bus-linked fatalities are up 125%, those involving cluster buses 44% and deaths due to accidents involving private buses have risen by 25%, says the report. School buses, responsible for the death of eight persons between January 1 and May 15 last year, have kept a clean slate so far this year.
“In most of the accidents reported from across the city, the victims were pedestrians. We keep fining drivers for violating traffic rules. Till March, we have issued 5,91,455 challans,” said the traffic police officer.
“To regulate traffic and safety of commuters, we are working on a four-pronged strategy — regulation, prosecution, road engineering solutions and road safety campaigns,” said Ms. Choudhary.
