Data from the ‘Road Accidents in India – 2016’, released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways this year, shows that though the number of accident across the country went down by 4.1% in 2016, with the year seeing 4,80,652 accidents against 5,01,785 in 2015, the number of fatalities went up by 3.2%.
Karnataka was third among the 13 States that accounted for 86% of the total road accidents, with a percentage share of 9.2.
The State also found itself at the fourth place on the list of top 13 States accounting for maximum number of fatalities, with a percentage share of 7.4.
Bengaluru saw 5,323 road accidents in 2016, of which 790 were fatal.
The trend for Bengaluru continues this year as well: according to Bengaluru traffic police data, this year (till October) 4,246 road accidents have been reported, of which 513 were fatal. While 3,537 people were injured in these accidents, 546 were killed.
While cautioning that statistics may go up and down for a State each year, Ashish Verma, associate professor, IISc., and president of the Transportation Research Group of India (TRG), said the fundamental issue remains the same for the country as a whole.
“New infrastructure is being created in the country in form of expressways and highways. But, nothing has been done in terms of improving safety standards. So though one can travel faster now, the risks of accidents have gone up too,” he said, and added that the authorities must conduct safety audits at various level of road development project, including designing, construction and inauguration.