LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh with 22,256 causalities topped the chart of road accident deaths in the country in 2018. On an average, 60 road crash deaths were recorded in the state every day, according to the latest Road Accident Report. The state was at the top of the same list in 2017 too.
Though Tamil Nadu (Rank 1) and Madhya Pradesh (Rank 2) recorded more road accidents in comparison to UP (Rank 3), the number of fatalities in these two states was lesser than Uttar Pradesh.
In 2018, a total 63,920, accidents were reported in Tamil Nadu, which was 50% more than UP but the number of deaths was 39% lesser than UP.
Likewise, Madhya Pradesh, recorded 51,397 accidents in 2018 which killed 10,706 persons. When compared to UP, the number of accidents was 20% higher but that of death was 51% lesser than UP.
In Tamil Nadu, the rate of accidents came down by 2.5% and in MP by 3.7%. But UP recorded an increase of 9.8% in the same period.
Experts attribute the higher number of road crash fatalities in UP to poor referral system.
Dr Ajai Singh of KGMU’s orthopaedics and surgery department said there is no dedicated medical arrangement in place to attend to road accident victims. “Road accident victims must be provided medical aid during the golden hour, but our state lacks proper network of ambulances, police also react late while primary health centres are ill-equipped to tackle such cases,” he said.
Ashutosh Soti, founder of Shubham Soti Foundation, a Lucknow-based NGO working for road safety, said that awareness about road accidents and primary treatment to victims should be made part of school curriculum. “The state has started taking initiatives like adding ambulance in UP 112 emergency helpline and conducting road safety audits but more has to be done like regular awareness drives to curb road crashes and deaths,” he added.
Date: November 21, 2019
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