PANAJI: The implementation of traffic rules and regulations in the state has done little to slow the loss of life, with a report compiled by the traffic department showing that one person died in a road accident everyday in the first four months of this year.
April alone saw atleast one person succumb to road accidents everyday with 30 deaths recorded involving 511 vehicles. More than half of these were riders and almost one-sixth pedestrians.
Poor enforcement of traffic rules and negligent driving are reasons leading to frequent accidents mainly involving two- and four-wheelers on the state roads.
Data available with the traffic department suggests that around 98 people were killed in as many as 1,260 serious accidents reported from different parts of the state last year from January to April and during the same period, this year, as many as 108 people got killed in 1,358 serious accidents leaving 498 people injured.
A majority of the fatal accidents took place due to dangerous or careless driving, overtaking and overspeeding on the rural roads and National Highways where accidents involving two-wheelers accounted for a major share of the fatalities.
In the last seven years, the accident figure rose by 30 per cent. The increasing number of fatalities and road crashes – up from 3,300 in 2009 to over 4,304 in 2016 – indicates how a slew of initiatives taken by the Centre and state government for road safety have had little impact. The Supreme Court-appointed panel on road safety has written to state governments to step up efforts to curb crashes and fatalities.
Interestingly, the traffic cell and transport department do not have the equipment to check traffic violations and also do not have an adequate number of officials to man the roads and highways with the number of vehicles rising. The response time of the highway patrol teams that are generally called for relief and rescue operations is also poor, leading to a high rate of accidents and fatalities on the highways.
Goa registered a total of 3,600 motor vehicle accidents with 248 persons losing their lives in the year 2010 as compared to 3,300 accidents in 2009 indicating an 8.3 per cent increase in motor vehicle accidents. In 2013, 249 deaths occurred in the state in 4,294 road accidents, mostly involving two-wheelers, while in 2014, the figure fell by only 1 per cent with 4,229 accidents leading to 290 deaths. In 2016, the accident figure rose to 4,304 claiming 316 lives.
This translates to 42 serious accidents a day with atleast one fatal accident, in what an expert described as a “daily massacre on our roads.” The number comes as a wake-up call for the government, which has set a goal of reducing road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2020.
While the number of road fatalities increased, there is no reduction in the number of vehicles as the state has witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of motor vehicles on its streets. According to the latest estimates, every month about 5,000-6,000 vehicles are added to the vehicle population of almost 12 lakhs in the state.
The vehicle population has increased by 107 per cent since the last ten years. According to records available with the state transport department, the motor vehicle population during 2006-07 was 5,78,771, whereas till March 2017, the figure rose above 12 lakh of which 70 per cent comprise of two-wheelers.