Lockdown effect: Hyderabad sees decrease in road fatalities by 23%

Hyderabad: Road accident deaths decreased by 23 per cent in Hyderabad during the first six months of 2020 when compared to the corresponding period last year, according to the data provided by the Hyderabad city traffic police on 14 July.

Between January and June 2020, Hyderabad saw 106 casualties, while during the same period in 2019, 137 people were killed in road accidents.

Seven persons have lost their lives this month till 12 July.

In 2020, January and February saw the highest road fatalities and reported 24 deaths each, while in March 16 people were killed in road accidents in the city. It must be noted that the city was on complete lockdown for eight days in March. In April, Hyderabad reported six fatalities in various road mishaps even as there was a complete lockdown, while in May, as the restrictions eased, the number of deaths jumped to 23. In June, the numbers again reduced to 13.

During the same period in 2019, 27 road accident deaths were reported in January, 28 in February, 19 in March, 21 in April, 27 in May, and 15 in June.

The overall analysis by the traffic police shows that over speeding and driving under influence, which caused 98 deaths, were the major cause of fatal road accidents. As liquor shops reopened on 6 May, the highest number of casualties in a single month after the lockdown was reported in May.

The number of pedestrian deaths has also decreased by 38 per cent, according to the data. In 2020 only 33 pedestrians were killed while in 2019, 53 pedestrians lost their lives. Also, only 1,049 minors were caught driving in violation of the rules this year, a decrease of 61 per cent. Last year, it was 2,732.

Meanwhile, there was an increase in dangerous driving cases by 71.2 per cent. This year 89,871 such violations were registered in the city, while the previous year it was 25,852. The cases of people driving without a licence also increased this year by 27.6 per cent. A total of 10,514 such violations were recorded this year while last year it was 7,612 cases.

Also, the number of cases of people driving without a helmet rose by 18.6 per cent. In the first six months of 2020, 22,26,625 cases of driving without a helmet were registered. The figure was 18,12,198 in 2019. Besides this, there has also been an increase in cases of triple-riding, wrong parking, and driving while talking on the cell phone.