JOIN USMaximum number of road accidents occur afternoon
Hitting roads in afternoon may not be as safe as motorists believe as maximum road accidents occurred in the afternoon, p reveals a latest report prepared by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
As per the analysis of road accidents in the country in the past four years from 2009 to 2012, the maximum number of accidents (3.31 lakh of the total 19.74 lakh incidents) occurred between 3 pm and 6 pm. This accounts for 16.7 per cent of the total accidents. The next highest accidents happen between 6 pm and 9 pm, which is around 15 per cent of the total accidents.
“The reasons for maximum accidents during evening may be due to low light and dozing off by drivers after lunch,” O P Shemar, Adviser, Transport Research wing of the Ministry, told Deccan Herald.
Interestingly, more accidents occur in the day (59.5 per cent) (6 am to 6 pm), putting together figures of post-noon mishaps, in comparison to the night (40.5) (6 pm to 6 am). “This is because of the massive number of vehicles plying on the road during the day,” he explained.
The highest casualty in the accidents is young people with huge number of productive age every year. In 2012, people belonging to age between 25-65 years accounted for the largest share (53.1 per cent) of total accident fatalities followed by the share of age group of 15-24 years (32.3 per cent).
Driver’s fault is the single most important factor responsible for 78.7 per cent of accidents.
In terms of vehicles, two-wheelers were found to be involved in maximum number of accidents with 25 per cent share, followed by trucks, tempos and tractors.
Interestingly, the report said that the maximum number (31 per cent) of accidents were committed by drivers who have studied minimum 10th standard or above while less education like standard VII and below committed just 18 per cent of accidents in 2012.