There have been 8,145 deaths involving men and 1,365 deaths of women across the State in road accidents in 2013. In all there have been 42,107 road accidents across the State last year.

In Bangalore City, the deaths are 624 (men) and 147 (women), respectively. In most places, the number of deaths in accidents involving men are higher than that of women. Apart from this, as many as 10,851 men and 2,805 women have been physically disabled in accidents.

Providing the statistics in a written reply to a query by M Srinivas (JD-S) about the number of road accidents in the last five years in the State, Home Minister KJ George said in the Legislative Council on Thursday that the government was facing a challenge in curbing road accidents.

The current highway patrolling was not enough. The shortage of police personnel in the State, coupled with the increasing population, posed a challenge for efficient traffic management, George said. Road rage, drunken driving and speeding of vehicles are among the primary reasons for road accidents, he added.

Constable recruitment

To overcome police staff shortage, the government has started the recruitment process for 8,500 posts of constables, the minister said.

To another question by MLC Doddarange Gowda (BJP) on the recruitment of constables, the minister said there were 61,563 sanctioned posts in the State, of which 15,592 were vacant. For the past four years, civil constable recruitments had not been done, he said.