manoj

TWELVE LIVES were snuffed out in two accidents in the city on Friday For . Maharashtra, which leads the national accident statistics with more than 25 deaths every single day, the 12 deaths are just another addition to the figures. On an average, 10,000 deaths take place in the state every year.

What is the reason behind the increasing accidents? The growing density of vehicles on the state’s roads is said to be a prime factor. Consider this, in 1971, there were 3,07,030 motor vehicles in the state. In 2005, the figure rose to 99,35,965. This is almost 33 times more than the original figure.


During the same period, the road length has risen by a mere 5-6 times. On several roads, vehicular traffic is 4-5 times more than their capacity .

The state Road Transport Office has plans to introduce a 7-8 month driving certificate course for heavy vehicle drivers to train them in traffic safety. “Only those who clear the test will be el igible for driving heavy vehicles,” said State RTO Commissioner Shyamsunder Shinde. But the proposal is still on paper.

According to data provided by the Maharashtra highway police and Union ministry of shipping, road transport and highways, besides faulty driving, over-speeding and drunken driving, there are factors like a driver is often too tired and occasionally dozes off on the wheel.

A senior highway official said, “Overtaking is one of the prime reasons for accidents. In their zest to overtake, motorists cut lanes, leading to head-on collisions with other vehicles.” So what’s the solution?

“Having dividers may help. But at many stretches, roads are so narrow that one practically cannot have dividers. Once national highways are widened, this problem will be solved,” he added Vijay Kamble, special inspector-general of police (highway traffic) attributed most accidents to human error.

Asked why Maharashtra topped the accident list, he said, “The problem is with people and not infrastructure. You say overtaking is one of the major reasons, but it is not so.” Elaborating, he says: “Take the example of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway . It has dividers, so there’s no threat from vehicles in opposite direction. Yet there have been accidents. If roads were bad, people won’t be able to speed up their vehicles and there will be no accidents. So the problem is with driving habits, not roads” “Maharashtra has a mere 450 km highway length as compared to 40,000 km in the country. Yet there are more accidents here because of undisciplined driving habits.” There are cases where a driver drives for continuous 10-15 hours without a break or does not follow basic traffic rules, Kamble says, adding, “This leads to fatigue and makes one prone to accidents.” Nitin Dossa, executive chairman of Western India Auto Association, says, flouting traffic rules while driving is the main reason for accidents. “The need of the hour is to have stricter traffic norms and the Regional Transport Office (RTO) should stop issuing licences randomly. Driving tests should include all aspects of traffic safety and the RTO must see that all the rules are adhered to.”

Author: Rajendra Aklekar
Location: Mumbai
Article Source: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com (Mumbai Edition)

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