Blessing in disguise: Road accidents decline sharply during lockdown

Though COVID-19 lockdown has been trouble for all people across the district, there is a silver lining in the dark cloud. Indirectly, it has come as a boon and saved the lives of people who were fated to die in road accidents.

Remarkably and truly, the lockdown has come as a blessing in disguise for motorists because most of them stayed home in the morbid fear of contracting a Coronavirus infection.

It is estimated that nearly 200 accidents were being reported in a month in Tumakuru district. Among them, nearly 50 road accident deaths were being reported in the district each month. Hundreds were getting injured.

Falling numbers

In April, 15 accidental deaths and 31 non-fatal accidents were reported. Before the lockdown, the same numbers were four times higher. In March 53 accidental deaths and 136 non-fatal accidents were reported.

But since the lockdown was announced, all kinds of two-wheelers, autos, goods carriers, cars, vans, buses, lorries stayed off-roads. Automatically, the number of accidents and accidental deaths plummeted sharply in the district. Because Tumakuru is a fledgling metropolis with industrial suburbs, the daily addition of new vehicles is increasing and so is the traffic density.

The fact that it is close to Bengaluru and a national highway passes through it is also a cause for the high accidental death rate. Many people shuttle between Tumakuru and Bengaluru using the highway for daily work.