Ministry releases Data: Road accidents in 2016, Mumbai 5th among 50

City in top ten in number of fatalities

MUMBAI RANKED fifth among 50 Indian cities with a population of 1 million and above that witnessed most road accidents causing injuries to commuters in 2016, data released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways states. The city also featured in the first ten among the cities that witnessed maximum number of accidents and fatalities last year. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari released in Delhi Wednesday the data pertaining to road accidents in the country in 2016. With 2,772 accidents causing serious injuries to commuters, Mumbai stood fifth after other mega cities like Chennai, Delhi, Indore and Bangalore that witnessed more than 3,000 accidents in the last year.

Mumbai ranked ahead of Kolkata (2,650), Jabalpur (2,580), Bhopal (2,481) and Hyderabad (2,148). Lack of traffic sense by vehicle users and increase in the number of vehicles have been cited to be the reasons behind the high number of accidents. “There is still lack of awareness of traffic rules and regulations by vehicle users and drivers in the city. Absence of lane discipline and speeding at wrong hours could still account for maximum accidents caused,” said transport expert A V Shenoy.

Mumbai also ranked fifth among 50 cities that recorded highest number of injuries to commuters per 100 accidents. However, with 562 deaths per 100 accidents, the city recorded a lower accident severity of 16.6 per cent compared to cities like Ludh-iana (69.9%) and Delhi (21.6%).

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“The city witnessed a huge spurt in the number of vehicles especially two-wheelers in the last ten years. Excessive presence of vehicles when not matched with road discipline is bad. There are fewer facilities for pedestrians on road which increases their risk to safety,” Shenoy added. Among the total number of road accidents recorded last year, Mumbai ranked sixth with 3,379 mishaps. As far as fatalities are concerned, the city ranked seventh after Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Bangalore and two more cities.

“Mumbai also accounts for a huge share of vehicles and urbanisation as compared to any other city in the country. Greater dependence on public transport vehicles as compared to private vehicles could help reduce accidents in the city,” said a senior highway traffic official. Mumbai has more than 20 lakh vehicles plying on its roads as of 2016.

Maharashtra showed a positive trend in reducing fatalities in road accidents as it recorded 12,935 deaths last year as compared to 13,212 in 2015. The total number of accidents also reduced to 39,878 last year when compared to 63,805 in 2015.

“We cite the reasons for the drop in the number of accidents to following the road safety measures. The measures include identification and rectification of black spots, installing crash barriers in accident-prone areas and CCTVs at vulnerable locations,” said Transport Secretary Manoj Saunik.

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