The figure, which comprises only 11% of the cases reported during the corresponding period last year, baffled road safety experts. Many assumed that reckless driving could have led to these accidents as traffic law enforcement was hit with many policemen imposing lockdown restrictions.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: No peak time office rush, unavailability of liquor, almost-nil traffic on roads after dark and yet Kerala witnessed 483 road accidents during the first two phases of the lockdown that lasted only 39 days. From March 25 to May 3, 64 lives were lost and 482 individuals were left injured in these 483 accidents.
The figure, which comprises only 11% of the cases reported during the corresponding period last year, baffled road safety experts. Many assumed that reckless driving could have led to these accidents as traffic law enforcement was hit with many policemen imposing lockdown restrictions.
In phase-I from March 25 to April 14, 26 persons were killed in 173 accidents while 184 others were injured. In phase-II from April 15 to May 3, 310 accidents were reported, which is almost double the number that happened in phase-I. Also, 38 persons were killed in these accidents and 298 were left injured. It must be noted that while phase-I (of lockdown) lasted 21 days, the second phase lasted just 18 days.
Kerala road safety commissioner N Shanker Reddy said that it was too early to comment on possible factors that could have led to these accidents.
Road safety experts said the high volume of vehicles on roads, night-time driving and drunk driving mostly led to accidents under normal conditions.
“In this case, these three factors were absent. There were less vehicles on roads and night driving was nil as police were strictly enforcing lockdown after the evening deadline. There was no alcohol availability and that eliminates the possibility of drunk driving,” said Sony Thomas, a road safety expert and project consultant at World Bank.
He said that police need to take these cases seriously, conduct a thorough probe in each case and finding factors that led to these cases so that the data could be used by experts to conduct studies in future.
Source: Economictimes
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