Road fatalities on the rise in City

The City witnessed a marginal rise in the number of deaths in road accidents in the last year. Around 740 cases of fatal accidents were reported in 2012, out of which 760 people were declared dead. In 2013, around 771 deaths were reported in 737 fatal accidents. 

In the category of non-fatal accidents, around 4,765 accidents were reported, leaving 4,471 injured in 2012. While in 2013, 4,493 non-fatal accidents were reported with 4,289 injured.City Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar, in a press conference on Friday, said: “People indulging in wheelies and rash driving will have their licence cancelled and the traffic police will take stringent action against road users for such behaviour.”

He said there is a rise in th enumber of youths without licence riding two-wheelers, and in such cases, the parents will be counselled and warned against allowing their children to ride vehicles. With the increase in population, number of vehicles on road has also been multiplying. A total of 19,12,341 vehicles were registered in the City in 2003, with a steep increase over the years, up to 47,79,007 till 2013. 

In 2013, under the Motor Vehicles Act, around 54,32,812 cases were booked against offenders, and Rs 56 lakh was collected as fine.

“Our department is working towards free flow of traffic, and we want the roads to be more pedestrian-friendly. There are several programmes being chalked out in order to decongest the traffic in the City,” said B Dayananda, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic).