KR Puram, a pedestrian’s worst nightmare

KR Puram has emerged as the deadliest locality in the city, recording the highest number of pedestrian crashes in 2017.

According to a consolidated report compiled by Anusha Chitturi and Varun Sridhar — co-founders of ‘The Footpath Initiative’, an urban project — KR Puram recorded the highest number of pedestrian fatalities. There were a total of 87 cases in 2017, including 25 pedestrian deaths and 69 injuries.

In all, 282 deaths and 1,574 cases related to pedestrian crashes were reported in the year.

“KR Puram alone contributed to the most number of pedestrian deaths in the city. The severity of crashes was very high in the case of Pulakeshinagar and International Airport,” stated the report.

After KR Puram, it was Banaswadi, Byatarayanapura, Yeshwantpur, Madiwala, Peenya, Electronic City and Yelahanka that recorded a large number of pedestrian crashes. While Banaswadi recorded 15 deaths and 40 injuries, Yeshwantpur and Byatarayanapura saw 13 deaths and about 50 injuries.

One of the reasons for pedestrian crashes along these stretches was the lack of infrastructure, said Anusha.

“There is no proper pedestrian infrastructure throughout the periphery of the city where these places have recorded the highest number of fatalities. Central Business District areas such as Cubbon Park and MG Road have fairly well-developed footpaths. But that’s not the case with peripheral areas,” she said.

Nearly 60% of the victims were crossing the road just before the crash, while 19% of them were walking on the side of the road or on a footpath when they were hit by a vehicle.

Overspeeding and reckless driving were the main reasons for pedestrian crashes, accounting for 90% of accidents (249 cases). About 81% of the victims fell on the road and suffered a forceful blow, hurting head and limbs. About 15% of fatalities involved a run-over, mostly by heavy vehicles such as a bus or a truck.

The report also revealed that in 58% of the crashes, the nearest police station was 2.5 km away from the location and that most of the victims were labourers, domestic helps and housewives.

P Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), was not available for comments on the issue.

Earlier this week, he had convened a meeting with all traffic police sub-inspectors regarding traffic regulations and other related issues. On Friday, the members of Whitefield Rising responded to this on Twitter, asking about the relief measures to Hoodi Circle mess in Whitefield, where rampant traffic violations are leading to deaths.