BHUBANESWAR: Steep penalties under the amended Motor Vehicles (MV) Act that came into force in September 2019 might have made many people see red, but the stringent law has benefited Odisha in taming accident deaths to a great extent in 2019. The state that had witnessed accident deaths soar alarmingly by 9.5% in 2015, 3.7% in 2016, 7.3% in 2017 and 11% in 2018 has recorded marginal 0.3% rise in fatalities in 2019.
The transport department said total 5,333 persons were killed in road mishaps across Odisha in 2019, up by 0.3 per cent from 5,315 deaths in 2018. Though the fatalities had increased by 9.6 per cent in first eight months of 2019 compared to the corresponding period in 2018, the trend was reversed in September, October, November and December last year following the launch of new MV Act with steep penal provisions.
Data said accident fatalities came down by 12 per cent in September, 18.7 percent in October, 6.6 per cent in November and 26.9 per cent in December last year. Going by numbers, accident deaths dropped to 323 in September 2019 from 367 in September 2018, 361 in October 2019 compared to 444 in October 2018, 427 in November 2019 as against 457 in November 2018 and 430 deaths in December 2019 from 588 in December 2018.
“We believe that the massive awareness drives on amended MV Act and sustained enforcement drives by police and regional transport officers led to big fall of accident deaths in last four months of 2019. Over 10,000 persons were booked for driving under influence of alcohol during the four months. Regional transport officers also registered 100 drink driving cases,” state transport commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said.
The transport department said Boudh, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada, Deogarh, Malkangiri, Kendrapada, Bhadrak and Sundargarh districts recorded more than 10 percent increase in accident fatalities in 2019 compared to 2018. Districts like Angul, Nayagarh, Gajapati, Sambalpur, Nuapada, Bargarh and Cuttack reported more than 10 per cent decrease in fatalities last year.
The transport department said total 5,333 persons were killed in road mishaps across Odisha in 2019, up by 0.3 per cent from 5,315 deaths in 2018. Though the fatalities had increased by 9.6 per cent in first eight months of 2019 compared to the corresponding period in 2018, the trend was reversed in September, October, November and December last year following the launch of new MV Act with steep penal provisions.
Data said accident fatalities came down by 12 per cent in September, 18.7 percent in October, 6.6 per cent in November and 26.9 per cent in December last year. Going by numbers, accident deaths dropped to 323 in September 2019 from 367 in September 2018, 361 in October 2019 compared to 444 in October 2018, 427 in November 2019 as against 457 in November 2018 and 430 deaths in December 2019 from 588 in December 2018.
“We believe that the massive awareness drives on amended MV Act and sustained enforcement drives by police and regional transport officers led to big fall of accident deaths in last four months of 2019. Over 10,000 persons were booked for driving under influence of alcohol during the four months. Regional transport officers also registered 100 drink driving cases,” state transport commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said.
The transport department said Boudh, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada, Deogarh, Malkangiri, Kendrapada, Bhadrak and Sundargarh districts recorded more than 10 percent increase in accident fatalities in 2019 compared to 2018. Districts like Angul, Nayagarh, Gajapati, Sambalpur, Nuapada, Bargarh and Cuttack reported more than 10 per cent decrease in fatalities last year.
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