COIMBATORE: After analysing the details of road accidents in the last three years, the traffic police have identified 15 accident blackspots in the city.
As many as 54 people lost their lives in 54 road accidents this year, deputy commissioner of police R Mutharasu said. “Between January and November last year, 114 people were killed in accidents. We managed to bring down the mortality by 53% compared to the last year,” he said.
While 158 people were killed in 149 accidents in 2018, as many as 309 people lost their lives in 301 accidents in 2017. “We developed maps to mark the accident spots in the last three years and identified 15 places as black spots. Anna Statue Junction, Hope College, SITRA junction, KMCH junction and Goldwins on Avinashi Road along with Singanallur traffic signal and Vasantha Mill Road junction on Trichy Road have been identified as black spots,” said Mutharasu. “Ammankovil bus stop on Sathyamangalam Road, Sungam bypass – Valankulam Road junction, Nanjundapuram Road near the flyover, GD Tank near Vellalore Pirivu, Pongaliamman temple area at Podanur, flower market, Azhageshan Road and L&T by Bypass near Sri Shakthi College of Engineering and Technology have also been marked.”
“Pedestrians jumping median to cross the road caused 50% of fatal accidents. So, we have decided to increase the height of medians at the blackspots using wire mesh,” Mutharasu added.
As many as 9,315 people were killed in road accidents across Tamil Nadu during the same period last year compared to 6,598 this year, registering a 29.17 % drop.