Road Safety Week: Steep rise in vehicles, drunk driving reasons for road accidents, says Tripura CM Manik Saha

The number of vehicles rose from 3,672 in 1971 to nearly 8 lakh in the state, said Dr Saha, adding that the road mishaps remain a matter of concern for the state government despite efforts taken to expand roads due to the rise in the number of vehicles.

Dr Saha stressed creating awareness to prevent mishaps by highlighting various factors for the accidents, such as driving in an intoxicated condition and the disproportionate rise in the number of vehicles compared to road infrastructure.

He administered the oath on road safety measures to the students of various educational institutions who attended the event, distributed helmets to college students and flagged off an anti-road mishap awareness vehicle.

Earlier, the chief minister announced the start of a breath analyser test to check if anyone is driving under the influence of alcohol and put up speed breakers to control the speeding vehicles.

The government plans to form committees to create road safety awareness, especially targeting youths aged between 18 and 35.

Echoing Saha’s comment, Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said that the rise in vehicles is a major cause of frequent road mishaps and later added that 700-750 road mishaps on average occur in the state annually, leading to 200-250 deaths. He emphasised strict laws against driving in an intoxicated condition due to alcohol or drugs.

Road Safety Week is observed to reduce road mishaps through various initiatives, including road safety awareness campaigns, car safety checkups and road safety educational programmes.