Vizag: Road fatalities increase by 40% in 2021

Visakhapatnam: There has been a 40 percent increase in road fatalities in Vizag city in 2021.

As many as 364 people were killed and 1523 people injured in 1528 road accidents in Vizag city between January and December 2021. In 2020, 260 people were killed and 1048 people suffered injuries in 1147 cases.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Ch Adinarayana said a majority of the victims in the road accidents were two-wheeler riders only.

City police chief Manish Kumar Sinha said the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the number of two-wheelers in Vizag city as most avoided travel in public transport. Some motorists were not aware of the traffic norms.

Overall, fines for traffic violations such as over-speeding, driving without a head guard, wrong-side driving, using mobile phones while driving, and a few other violations, have increased by over 30 percent. "We are hoping that the number of fatal and non-fatal accidents in the coming days," Adinarayana said.

Police observed that the accidents declined by 10 percent on the National Highway (NH) stretch in the city. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has set a target of reducing road fatalities by 10 percent every year in big states.

Several road safety committee meetings were also held this year. People have recommended some engineering changes at a few locations to make roads safer and reduce traffic congestion.

"Some car owners in Vizag city continue to install powerful headlights which is not only causing inconvenience to road-users (who are coming in the opposite direction) but also increasing the risk of road crashes," said R Prakash, a resident of MVP Colony in Vizag city.

Key Points:

Vizag city has over 12 lakh vehicles

City police have booked as many as cases 19,73,624 against the motorists under MV Act in 2021 in Vizag

A total of Rs6 crore fine collected from traffic violators in Vizag in 2021

Vizag city roads claimed 260 lives in 2020, 328 lives in 2019, and 325 live in 2018

Majority of the road accidents were reported on the NH-16 stretch in Vizag city limits

More police personnel were deployed on the beach road to regulate the traffic during the weekends