Deaths on city roads rising, blame it on 1.10 cr vehicles, shaky transport infra

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: Amid a continuous rise in accidents and deaths on city roads, traffic officials have attributed them to a combination of factors such as a rising number of vehicles, higher speeds and distracted drivers among other things.

Rise in accidents

Though state lawmakers have taken steps to address the issue, the number of deaths in Bengaluru continues to climb.

With an average of two deaths per day in road accidents, the year 2022 proved to be a deadly year for road safety in the city. The data shared by the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) showed that 3827 accidents had reportedly taken place in the city limits last year, out of which 777 were fatal.

About 228 pedestrians died last year. In 2020, Bengaluru saw 3236 road accidents which killed 647 people and injured 2760. In 2021, there were 3213 road accidents in which 651 lives were lost and 2,820 were injured. Road Accidents in India 2021, a report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in 2021, even said that Bengaluru had the second-highest number of deaths due to road accidents in 2021.

In 2019, the year before the pandemic, 766 people were killed and 4,250 were injured in 4,684 road accidents. Rise in Pedestrian deaths Special Commissioner, Bengaluru Traffic, MA Saleem said that about 78 people have lost lives in road accidents in January this year of which 25 were pedestrians and the remaining 43 were twowheeler riders and pillion riders. "About 228 pedestrians died last year.

There are 1.10 crore vehicles in the city, which is a huge number. The major reason for pedestrian deaths is that there are no proper footpaths in some parts of the city and also most of them are encroached upon. Due to this people are forced to use the roads which makes them vulnerable to accidents," Saleem said.

Traffic experts in the city claim that some areas still have narrow roads which pose more trouble when vehicles are parked illegally blocking the way for pedestrians. Sathya Sankaran, the founder Council for Active Mobility, said that the main issue was that walking and cycling were not considered important by the government. It believes that only motor vehicles run the economy.

Experts also pointed out that heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses are more likely to hit pedestrians while making turns than drivers of cars. There are already a huge number of incidents reported where people, both pedestrians and riders, have been run over by trucks and buses belonging to Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

“Most people use private vehicles rather than opting for public transport. With the ongoing construction of Metro and other infrastructural works, the traffic congestion also has increased in the city”, Saleem added.

The residents, activists and experts have been asking the BMTC to work on providing last-mile connectivity to the commuters to ensure that they use their service instead of using their own vehicles. However, for various reasons, the plan has been kept on hold. The accidents and deaths on the city roads can be curbed only when all the corporations and traffic police will work in tandem.