UP sees 6.5% rise in road accidents, 4% in fatalities this yr, says govt data

The number of fatalities in road accidents has also increased by 4% compared to last year. As many as 19,290 people lost their lives in UP till October-end. This is an increase of 758 cases compared to 2022, when 18,532 people died by the end of October. The data shows that the number of injuries has also increased from 18,532 cases till last October to 25,618 cases this year, a rise of 8.4% in the same period.

A presentation of the data was made before Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who chaired a meeting of the State Road Safety Council at his official residence in Lucknow on Saturday. The CM directed the officials to deploy Assistant Regional Transport Officers (ARTO) in every district.

“Apart from poor road engineering, the major factors responsible for road accidents are over-speeding, overloading, non-use of safety equipment and driving under the influence of alcohol. Maximum road accidents occur in big cities like Kanpur Nagar, Agra, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Bulandshahr and Mathura. Efforts should be made to reduce road accidents by focusing on these cities connected to expressways or national highways,” said the CM.

“Considering the importance of road safety, ARTO, road safety, should be deployed in every district. The proposal for creation of posts in this regard should be sent as soon as possible. Wherever there is shortage of human resource, fill it immediately,” said Yogi.

He directed that the ongoing work for short-term and long-term rectification of black spots identified on the routes of PWD, state Highways and NHAI should be completed as soon as possible.

According to the latest ‘Road Accidents in India’ report of Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Uttar Pradesh has recorded the highest number of road accident fatalities since 2018; it stands at number four in terms of accident cases in the same period.

The report shows that a total of 41,746 accidents took place in UP till December 2022. A total of 28,541 persons were injured and 22,595 people died in these accidents. In 2021, the states recorded 37,729 accident cases, in which 28,897 people were injured and 21,227 people died. In 2020, a total of 34,343 accident cases were recorded, in which 22,410 people were injured and 19,149 died.

The UP Transport Department report also shows that the biggest reason for road accident fatalities was over-speeding, which accounted for 40% of deaths. Drunken driving led to 10% deaths, 12% died because of driving on the wrong side, 10% accident deaths were due to use of mobile phones and 5% deaths were because of jumping traffic light.

The cause for the rest of 23% deaths were due to losing control of the vehicle, sleeping, poor road visibility, engineering defects etc.

Most accidents happen on highways, according to the report. It shows that in 2022, 36% accident deaths were recorded on National Highways, 28% on State Highways and 2% on Expressways. Around 34% people died on other roads in the accidents.

The ‘weather type’ data of the accidents shows that 48% people were killed in sunny/clear weather. Apart from this, 15% died in the rainy season, 17% in foggy & misty, 4% in hail/sleet weather and 16% deaths were in ‘others’ category.

The report also shows that most of the accidents and deaths were recorded during 6 pm to 9 pm. In 2022, out of total deaths, 3,897 happened during these hours.

The ‘Junction Type’ data shows that 30% people were killed on T Junction, 20% on Y Junction, 20% on four-arm junction, 12% on roundabout junction and 18% on staggered junction (where several roads meet).

42% people killed in 20 districts

The report also shows that in the last three years, 42% deaths have been recorded in just 20 districts of Uttar Pradesh, with average death per year ranging from 356 to 600. These districts are Kanpur Nagar, Prayagraj, Agra, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Lucknow, Unnao, Hardoi, Mathura, Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Sitapur, Fatehpur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Barabanki, Kushinagar, Jaunpur, Firozabad, Ghaziabad and Badaun.

In the last three years, an average 20,990 people died in UP; of them 8,879 (42%) people died in these districts alone.

Black Spots

According to the data of UP Traffic Directorate, there are a total of 1,277 black spots (accident-prone locations) in the state as on till date. Last year, there were 1,041 black spots and more have been identified now.

National Highways and Expressways constitute the highest number of 795 (62%) black spots in the state. Similarly, there are 280 (22%) black spots on the state highways and 202 (16%) black spots on other roads.

Once the black spot is identified, different departments/agencies such as PWD, NHAI and others have to rectify it as per their guidelines.

However, the data shows that work is being done at a very slow pace in this direction. A total of 716 black spots were identified on PWD roads in 2021 and 2022. But as per the data,the department has rectified only 394 (55%) black spots till date. Similarly, a total number of 227 black spots were identified on National Highways under the PWD; of them 37 black spots are yet to be rectified by the department.

Similarly, 205 black spots, identified since 2016, are yet to be rectified by NHAI in UP. A total of 3,083 black spots were identified since 2016 on National Highways in UP and out of this NHAI said it has rectified 2,884 black spots so far and the rest will be rectified by 2025.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has identified 357 black spots on these highways, of which 48 are yet to be rectified by NHAI.

In the short-term measures for rectification of black spots, works like installation of signboards, rumble strips, retro-reflective safety device, cat’s eye or road stud, solar blinker, road markings and pothole removal etc. have been done. In long-term measures, bypass, widening, flyover, foot over bridge etc. are being constructed.