Hyd traffic police's 'Speed Calming' efforts pay off, accident fatalities down by 19%

Hyderabad: The number of fatalities caused by motor vehicle crashes has reduced by about 19% due to the Hyderabad traffic police's "Speed Calming" effort during the night hours, they said on Tuesday.

This initiative reduced fatalities from 121 to 97 between 11 p.m and 6 a.m, the traffic police said.

The accidents were reduced by nearly half between 4 a.m and 6 a.m. In 2021, 15 accidents due to motor vehicle collisions occurred between 4–5 a.m and 17 accidents between 5–6 a.m. In 2022, (until November) only five accidents occurred between 4–5 a.m and six accidents between 5–6 a.m.

A high number of accidents (18) was recorded from 10 p.m to 11 p.m in 2022, while 16 accidents were recorded between 2 a.m and 3 a.m.

A study on the occurrence period was done by evaluating the road accident statistics and it was noticed that most accidents occur during non-peak traffic hours, particularly at night hours. Also, most of the collisions were due to overspeeding.

The Hyderabad traffic police have identified various accident-prone areas after analysing the locations of road accidents and decided to take measures to reduce the occurrence by "Speed Calming" measures.

Throughout Hyderabad city, traffic officers arranged barricades in a zig-zag manner under proper lighting with signages indicating "Go Slow" caution. C.V Anand, the commissioner of police, administered this initiation and suggested measures to improve visibility by placing solar warning lights and blinking uniform barricades in accident-prone areas.