Accidents due to drunk driving in Karnataka decline: Nitin Gadkari

Road accidents due to drunk driving declined in Karnataka in 2019 compared to the previous year, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

In a written reply, the Minister said in Karnataka, a total 169 such crashes were reported in 2017 while 139 crashes were reported in 2018, and 132 in 2019.

Even the overall India data showdrunked that mishaps due to drunk driving were declining in 2019 compared to previous years, the Minister said.

In 2017, the total number of road accidents due to drunk driving was 14,071, while it was 12,018 in 2018, and 12,256 in 2019.

Uttar Pradesh had the maximum number of such accidents at 4,496 in 2019, followed by 1,290 in Punjab. But such cases were increased highest in Punjab in 2019, as it was just 112 in 2018.

Bihar reported zero such cases in 2019 while Goa, Puducherry and West Bengal reported less than 10 cases.

Gadkari also said the Centre has asked the states not to issue license to new liquor shops close to national highways. Besides, the states have been requested to review the license of existing liquor shops close to national highways.

The Minister also said apart from creating awareness about danger of drunk driving, the Centre is granting financial assistance to states to procure breath analysers to check violators.

The Union Road Transport Ministry also has started new initiatives to collect accurate road accident data and other inputs from the spot. The Ministry said Integrated Road Accident Database Project (iRAD) will be implemented first in six states Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

As per the plan, the government will train police, transport and health department officials to use their mobile phones to collect the road crash and upload in iRAD mobile app. The government is using IT to collect accurate data of road accidents. After collecting data, concerned authorities will find out the cause for accidents and take remedial measures, said the Ministry.