JOIN USA word of caution for Delhi commuters during the festival season. Exercise extra caution between 9pm to 11 pm. Those two hours are lethal on capital’s roads.
According to Delhi Traffic Police data till October 15 thsi year, 737 accidents were reported in a mere two hours between 9 pm to 11 pm, with 10 pm-11 pm recording the maximum 384 accidents in various parts of the capital.
The period between 9pm to10 pm has the second most number of accidents - 353, with 322 between 8 pm-9 pm.
“The six hours from 8 pm to 2 am record the maximum accidents and so far 1,725 has been reported till October 15. During that time, the hours between 10 pm -11 pm recorded the maximum of 384 accidents, maximum for any single hour. It is advisable to be careful during these hours especially in light of forthcoming Christmas and New Year celebrations,” said a senior traffic police official adding that 1643 people had already lost their lives on city roads till October this year. As per the official, 319 accidents have been reported between 11pm-midnight, 217 between midnight-1 am and 130 between 1-2 am.
The police have planned a special five-day drive to check the menace of drunken-driving starting on the Christmas Eve. According to traffic police, around 14,000 people have been challaned for drunken driving and over 2,000 sent to prison this year.
The department has also identified the areas where most incidents of drunken driving are reported from and its men are most likely to station themselves there.
The danger zones are: Payal Cinema on Naraina Road and Najafgarh Road in West Delhi; Ashram Chowk, Paras Cinema, Under Chirag Delhi Flyover, Near Apollo Hospital, Ring Road, Defence Colony, Moti Bagh flyover in South Delhi; Connaught Place, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Shankar road in Central Delhi; GTK road from Azadpur to Mubarak Chowk, Boulevard Road, Mori Gate, Kingsway camp, DU and Swami Narayan Marg in North Delhi. Thse areas will remain under the scanner of traffic police in the week ahead.
“We do not want to spoil celebrations. If we hope we don’t find a single drunken driver we will be most happy,” he said.