As per the statistics revealed by the Hyderabad Traffic Department, till December 23, there were 2,590 road accidents took place in the city, in which 2,481 persons have suffered injuries and 426 persons have lost their lives. It means that one an average there are 8 road accidents in the city every day, with at least 7 persons being injured and 1 or 2 persons losing their lives. The total of pedestrians died in these road accidents are 972 (38%).
The increased number of two-wheelers on the city roads is found to be the main reason for increasing road accidents. There are nearly 27.18 lakh two-wheelers on the city roads. These riders were responsible for 761 cases and are found to major victims (1,159, which is roughly 44% of the total number), followed by four-wheelers riders, who were found guilty in 735 offenses and RTC bus drivers contributed for 284 offenses, leading to 55 deaths.
The increasing number of road accidents and vehicles are posing a severe threat to the pedestrians. Moreover, at the crucial junctions and more lane roads, it is becoming highly difficult for pedestrians to cross the roads, which is also leading to high fatalities in case of pedestrians.
Hence, in a measure to increase pedestrian safety in this new year, the traffic officials are planning to implement measures such as – ‘all red’ signals at important junctions, development of 2 feet barricaded pathway at important junctions, with opening only at road crossings, etc.
The traffic cops are also planning to bring in 30 more breathalyzers to curb drunken driving. Shockingly, there were 1,356 offenders booked under drunken driving in a period of 16 days during November last year. The officials said that they have collected Rs.33 crore revenue in the last year through various challans.
Further, two more traffic police stations, each at Narayanguda and Bahadurpura will be set up in this year. The traffic officials are also planning to construct dividers on all flyovers in this year.
Source: TOI