A traffic policeman on duty in Siripuram, Visakhapatnam. | PHOTO CREDIT: FILE PHOTO: V. RAJU
In 2022, nearly 33 per cent of the city’s reported road fatalities will occur on colonial roads under the Grand Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) restrictions. Last year, roads under municipal bodies were responsible for the second-highest number of fatalities after national roads.
The city police analyzed the accident, checked the black spots, the time of the accident and the cause of the accident, and took preventive measures. As many as 333 road fatalities will be reported in 2022. Of these, as many as 129 deaths occurred on the NH-16, while 113 occurred on the city’s colony and interior roads. There were 40 fatalities on BRTS roads and 15 on national roads. Seven people died on the beach section.
According to the traffic police, most of the traffic accidents in residential areas and internal roads are self-accidents caused by speeding. Accidents such as sharp turns, skids, hitting the middle belt, hitting stationary objects such as utility poles at intersections, triple riding, and dangerous driving occur from time to time. In most cases, the victims suffered head injuries and succumbed to them, police said. For two-wheeler drivers, many do not wear helmets. Police also did not rule out the possibility of poor road conditions and broken street lights as a cause of some accidents in the middle of the night.
At the same time, according to the analysis of the police, the period from 3 pm to 6 pm in a day is the period with the highest accident rate. In terms of days of the week, Sundays have the highest number of accidents reported compared to other days.
“We believe that a lack of sufficient police officers on duty during that time period may have been the cause of the accident. During this period (3pm to 6pm), traffic police officers who usually go out for lunch will not return on time or some may be performing CSR duties. Over the next few days, we will try to deploy more personnel specifically for this period,” Police Commissioner Ch. Srikanth said.
“Precaution”
He said that after coordinating with the GVMC, the police have been taking measures such as arranging speed reducers, proper street lights on internal roads. Communities are running road safety awareness campaigns.
Police have only one interceptor car to check for errant speeders. Police have registered around 40,270 cases against offenders.
