Highway horror: Accidents claim 27 lives daily in Karnataka

BENGALURU: Speed thrills, but kills too. Death of one person every hour on the highways across Karnataka is an indication that many motorists seem to have forgotten this popular adage. They invite danger by failing to check their adrenaline rush on the state and national highways, which have virtually turned into deathtraps in the state.Based on the seven-year-data, the police department has found that total 66 per cent of the accidents occur on the state highways. At least 27 people die on an average every day on the highways in the state.

With quality of roads as well as vehicles improving, experts have mainly blamed this disturbing daily occurrence on poor driver licensing system which allows half-experienced motorists speeding on the highways with no care for the well-being of others or for themselves. Poor road design and lack of technological applications to monitor highway traffic only add to the number of accidents.
Motorists ignore road safety norms and break laws — which most of them do not understand for want of adequate quality driver training.

According to the data available, apart from the deaths, an average of 153 people are injured daily in 120 accidents across the state on the highways. In 2017 alone, on an average, 28 people died in road accidents in the state every day and 10 died on national highways. Between 2011 and 2017, at least three lakh accidents have taken place in the state. While 71,287 people have died in road accidents, 3.91 lakh people have sustained injuries.

Traffic expert M N Srihari said, “About 3 per cent of our roads are highways, but they account for 66 per cent of road accidents. They are designed for speeds rather than safety. In the present scenario, giving good roads to Indians is dangerous.”“The number of deaths is too high. This is due to a variety of issues related to road design, lack of road safety audit and need for huge changes in our driving license system. Unless tech-based 24/7 enforcement of traffic laws is done, we cannot create enough of a deterrent. Traffic police have a tendency to carry out enforcement randomly, but it should be regular,” said Ashish Verma, assistant professor, department of civil engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

When asked whether governors can be used for private vehicles too, he said it is certainly needed. “If you can control the speed of the vehicles then you can control not just the number of accidents on highways but also their severity. In France, authorities concerned have incorporated governors which change the speed limit as per the kind of roads on which the vehicles move,” he added.

Accident-prone zones ignored: Experts
According to Srihari, there are two kinds of stretches on roads - black spots, where one or more accidents have occurred, and accident-prone zones, where accidents are likely to occur. Authorities never consider the latter. “We have to put plantations on the median. Sometimes trees are planted on the pavement, and their roots spread horizontally and make the pavement bulge, which causes accidents. Certain roadside trees need to be pruned regularly.” “It is obvious that highways cause more accidents mainly due to speed issues. Highways through towns and cities can cause accidents and should be avoided. We also cannot have smaller roads directly connecting to highways or freeways,” added Ashish.

Several steps taken to check accidents: Dept official
Transport Commissioner B Dayanand said the department has taken several steps to reduce accidents, especially on highways. “The transport department provides the policy and regulatory framework. Accordingly, speed limits have been fixed for different road categories and the police department is carrying out the enforcement. About 100 highway patrol vehicles have been procured by the police department and there is a plan to procure 300 more such vehicles. The vehicles are equipped with speed radar gun, breath analysers and various other equipment using which the personnel can carry out the enforcement. We have already made speed governors mandatory for transport vehicles. They cannot go beyond the speed of 80 km/hr, and for the hazardous vehicles the limit is 60 km/hr,” he said.