Traffic cops, IIT to analyse road accidents, save lives

Plan to use GIS to track mishap-prone spots in city

Aimed at bringing down the number of fatal accidents on city roads, the traffic police are analysing the nature of all fatal and non-fatal accidents scientifically.

The exercise, being done in association with experts from IIT-Delhi, aims to bring about sustainable solutions for reducing deaths due to road accidents.

The traffic police are analysing the nature of accidents, including assessing all aspects of accidents, which will help the force in evidence-based solutions.

“The analysis is an attempt to ascertain the exact reason behind accidents. There could be several other reasons for a fatal accident, apart from fault on part of the driver,” said Anil Shukla, the new additional commissioner of police (traffic).

“It may include the road geometry, curvature and gradient of the stretch where the accident took place, movement of pedestrians, visibility and signal cycle of traffic signals, among others,” ” said Shukla.

“The result of such an analysis will help in bringing the required change on a particular stretch to minimise chances of accidents,” added Shukla.

Once the data is available, corrective measures will be taken, he added.

The traffic police have asked the officers concerned to send details of all accidents in all traffic ranges. According to sources, the traffic police will use geographic information system (GIS) mapping to identify the exact locations where the maximum accidents happened last year.

According to the traffic police, the latest study is a step ahead of the success they met for the past two-three years in bringing down the number of fatal accidents.

With 1,866 road deaths, 2012 saw the lowest accident-related deaths in the past one decade. It is 11 per cent less than 2,066 road deaths in 2011.

“Increasing deployment of traffic policemen and intensifying violation checks are important measures to curb accidents. These have shown result over the past few years. The analysis of accidents is aimed at taking the success to the next level,” Shukla said.

He said every fatal accident averted serves several other purposes related to traffic than just saving precious lives. “Every accident prevented also leads to less traffic congestion and pile up of vehicle on that stretch,” said Shukla.