UP top in road accident fatalities: Across petrol pumps in state today, ‘no helmets, no fuel’
Month-long campaign as UP maintained its top position in road accident fatalities in 2023
2 min read
Two-wheeler riders accounted for 44.8% of all road fatalities in India in 2023 (File Photo)From Monday, as motorbike riders across Uttar Pradesh queue up at petrol pumps for fuel, they will have to meet a criterion: whether they are wearing a helmet or not. This is because all petrol pumps have been instructed to dispense fuel only to riders wearing helmets as part of the UP government’s month-long “no helmet, no fuel” campaign to improve road safety.
Necessarily so, as Uttar Pradesh maintained its top position in road accident fatalities in 2023 at the national level and remained at the top in the list of total number of road accident fatalities on National Highways in the country with 14.3 per cent share.
In 2023, Uttar Pradesh recorded 23,652 road accident deaths, the highest number of any state. While the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) records do not detail motorcycle-specific fatalities for UP, data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and previous years’ NCRB findings show two-wheelers are consistently the most vulnerable road users.
Two-wheeler riders accounted for 44.8% of all road fatalities in India in 2023.
Also, in terms of percentage change of road accident-related deaths over the previous year, Rajasthan with 5.93%, Karnataka with 5.29%, Uttar Pradesh with 4.68 % and Gujarat with 3.10% and Madhya Pradesh with 2.76% registered the highest growth over the previous year, which is above the national average of 2.61% in 2023.
Officials said that during the campaign, all petrol pumps would be monitored by the transport department and other concerned departments.
Transport Commissioner Brijesh Narayan said that “No Helmet, No Fuel” drive is a “commitment to safety”. He said that the drive would be led by the concerned district administrations in the respective districts along with road safety committees, and enforcement would be seen jointly by officials of the police, administration, and transport department.
A senior spokesperson said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked people of the state to follow the message of the safe drive, and the motive of the campaign is not punishment but “to promote lawful and safe riding habits”.
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