Accident deaths in Odisha down by 31.5% in 1st half of 2020

BHUBANESWAR: Deaths in road accidents dropped by nearly 31.5 % in the state in the first half of 2020 as compared to the corresponding period in 2019. While a total of 3013 persons had died in road accidents between January and June 2019, the casualties stood at 2062 during the same period this year.
The transport department, which has shared the data with the Supreme Court committee on road safety, said the fatality rate declined fast during the lockdown period (from March 24 till May 31) due to restrictions on the movement of vehicles in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
The statistics said a total of 4404 number of accidents were reported in the first half of this year compared to 5802 accidents during the corresponding period of 2019. “We had found 3013 persons died and 5934 persons were injured during the first half of 2019. In the first six months this year, at least 2062 persons died and 4289 were injured,” state transport commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said.
The Supreme Court committee on road safety recently expressed displeasure that the road accidents and fatalities continued to occur during the lockdown despite curbs on the movement of vehicles. At least 384 deaths were reported during the lockdown between March 24 and May 31 in the state, though the overall fatality rate dropped by 64.4 % during the period compared to the corresponding months in 2019.
The transport department said the total number of road accidents dropped to 836 during the lockdown as against 2107 number of accidents during the corresponding period in 2019. The total number of fatalities decreased to 384 between March 24 and May 31 this year compared to 1087 deaths during the corresponding period last year. While 1580 deaths were reported in January, February and March in 2019, the number of fatalities came down to 1346 in the first three months this year.
Police sources said almost all the road accidents during the lockdown had occurred on the national highways, involving motorcycles and trucks. There was no restriction on movement of vehicles transporting essential and non-essential commodities, though the movement of buses, cars, two-wheelers and other private and commercial vehicles was stopped during the lockdown and special shutdown.
Accident/death data
January to March 2019: 3058 accidents and 1580 deaths
April to June 2019: 2744 accidents and 1433 deaths
January to March 2020: 2881 accidents and 1353 deaths
April to June 2020: 1523 accidents and 709 deaths