Pitfalls of improved road conditions: More accidents & even more deaths

Nagpur: The condition of highways criss-crossing Vidarbha has improved allowing speedier transportation, but not without a downside — the number of road accidents has gone up considerably.
According to a reply by highway patrol police to RTI activist Abhay Kolarkar, 994 road accidents on highways had claimed 544 lives and left 464 injured between January to June 2022, as against 1,217 road accidents in which 864 people had died and 633 injured in 2021 calendar year. In 2020, 1,601 accidents took place, with 916 deaths and 586 injured and in 2019, there were 1,714 road accidents which saw 925 casualties and 669 injured.
City MP and Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari’s appeal to motorists for reducing road accident fatalities seems to have gone unnoticed.
The data also revealed that among the vehicles plying on highways, transport vehicles — especially trucks — contributed highest in terms of the number of accidents. Three and a half year’s accident data of highway traffic police revealed that of the 5,526 accidents, trucks were involved in 1,194, four-wheelers 222 and buses in 206. Other vehicles including two-wheelers, tractors and autorickshaws contributed to 2,916 road accidents on highways.
Among the four major highways — Nagpur-Chandrapur, Nagpur-Yavatmal, Nagpur-Amravati and Nagpur-Gadchiroli, this calendar year’s data revealed that Nagpur-Chandrapur highway is the most accident-prone. This busy road witnessed 288 accidents which claimed 162 lives. It was followed by Nagpur-Yavatmal road that saw 213 accidents killing 129 people, while Nagpur-Gadchiroli road saw 106 accidents with 53 fatalities.
Traffic experts said the condition of roads in the region has improved significantly with an equally significant rise in vehicular traffic. “However, many people behave irresponsibly flouting motor vehicle rules by driving at breakneck speed, driving drunk, riding without helmet, not wearing seatbelts, non-adherence to lane discipline and wrong side overtaking, wrong side driving etc,” they said.