Maharashtra accident data released: Drivers’ lack of skill, poor traffic sense cause most fatal accidents, says officials

According to senior officials in the road transport department and experts, lack of traffic sense and training among drivers are key reasons for such a large percentage of driver-led road accidents.

According to the data, 33,179 accidents were caused by drivers of motor vehicles (four-wheelers), 634 accidents were the fault of drivers in non-motor vehicles (two-wheelers and rickshaws).

“We still fail to impart skilled driving while training drivers and learners when teaching them. There has been no slump in the rate at which these accidents are being caused by the fault of drivers, this shows that no one in the government is owning up to it and taking efforts to redress the same,” said Amol Tope, who runs a specialised driving school in Mumbai and Pune to educate drivers on safe driving.

The data says most accidents in 2016 were caused by drivers in the age group of 25-35 years. Most of them were qualified till Class X.

“This clearly shows the rising trend of youngsters switching to driving as a temporary profession to earn a living for themselves. After obtaining licence, they continue to drive without knowing the importance of traffic rules or why safety is important. Many hazardous practices like using mobile phones, talking to co-passengers while driving have been noticed. We have organised many awareness programmes to teach them the importance of safe driving,” said a senior official at the Regional Transport Office (RTO).

The transport department had plans to launch state-sanctioned driver training schools to teach better driving skills to drivers. The plan, however, remains on paper due to funding issues.

“Inculcating the importance of safe driving among teenagers in colleges and among driver teams in corporate offices can lessen the task of the government. The amended Motor Vehicles Act, which calls for stricter fines for drunk driving, may bring some change,” added Tope.

“We have strictly asked the traffic police to suspend the licence of drivers and repeat offenders found driving in a wrong manner as a precautionary measure,” said Transport Commissioner Praveen Gedam.