According to the National Crime Record Bureau’s ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2019’ report, a total of 69,064 traffic accidents were registered in 53 cities during 2019. Chennai accounted for 10.2 per cent (6,871 out of 67,228 cases) of total road accidents reported in the cities followed by Delhi with 5,349 cases and Bengaluru with 4,684 cases. 

However, the large number of fatal road accidents were reported in Delhi (1,400 deaths) followed by Chennai (1,252 deaths), accounting for 9.5 per cent and 8.5 per cent of total deaths due to road accidents in the cities respectively during 2019. 

The city also topped road accidents caused due to speeding with 3,043 accidents and 668 fatalities. The weather condition, including poor visibility, accounts for the second-highest cause of accidents in the city with 1,315 cases and 104 deaths while the physical fatigue of drivers led to 937 accidents and 216 fatalities. 

Chennai also accounts for maximum accident cases involving drivers driving under influence of drug and alcohol with 438 cases and 49 deaths. 

As many as 514 persons riding two-wheeler were killed in road accidents in the city while 222 and 101 persons were killed in the accidents involving truck and bus respectively. Road safety expert N Sumana said accidents could be brought down by the strict enforcement of the traffic rules. 

“There are limitations in the enforcement like lack of personnel and equipment including speed gun to enforce traffic rules,” she said, adding another major lacuna in the enforcement is the predictability. 

“Motorists know the spot and time when the traffic police will check the vehicles for drunken driving and they avoid such roads,” she noted. She said when she went to renew her four-wheeler driving licence last year, she found the RTOs sticking to the same conventional driving test which she took 20 years ago. Officials from the Transport Department pointed out that they were making the system stricter to ensure only deserving candidates got a licence. 

“We will be introducing a simulator-based testing system for issuing driving licences. The applicants will be tested in a real-time environment,” said an official.