Times of India | 1 month ago | 27-05-2022 | 01:05 am
Panaji: Even as Goa’s road accident numbers have dropped, it continued to have the highest rate in the country, with no other state or Union territory coming close to its figure of 109.4 accidents per lakh population. This is around four times the national average of 27.6 accidents per lakh population, according to data released by the Union ministry of road transport and highways on Wednesday. While the report states that the number of road accidents in Goa has reduced, their severity was actually higher than the previous year. With nine deaths reported for every 100 road accidents, the severity rate was 9.4 in 2020, as against 8.6 in 2019. Altogether, 2,375 accidents were reported in Goa in 2020, of which 213 were fatal, and in the case of 150 accidents, the victims suffered grievous injuries. Victims in 427 accidents suffered minor injuries. The closest to Goa’s numbers is Kerala, with 76.6 accidents per lakh population. The report says that most accidents in Goa were caused by negligence and violation of traffic norms by citizens. Overspeeding was the number one cause, resulting in 1,845 accidents (and 42 deaths), followed by driving on the wrong side, which led to 229 accidents (nine deaths). The state also saw 90 persons die due to not wearing a helmet. Of the fatal accidents, 55 occured due to head-on collisions. Also, most (133) involved two-wheelers, while 29 of those who died were pedestrians, most of whom were hit from behind. Only 15 fatal accidents were caused by four-wheelers. A large majority of the accidents in Goa took place when the weather was clear and not rainy. The data also states that no accidents took place due to potholes in Goa in 2020. Most of the accidents also involved new vehicles which are less than 10 years old, pointing to mainly the fault of users. Most of those who died were males in the 18-65 group, who accounted for 171 of the 223. Meanwhile, accidents on national highways went down significantly, from 1,425 in 2018 to 1,244 in 2019 to 787 in 2020. Of the 223 persons killed, 61 died in accidents on national highways. This figure was a big drop from the 107 who died in 2019.
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