Regional roads have been re-accredited for all the wrong reasons, with the 2021 Road Accident and Traffic Annual Report revealing that as many as 649 people were killed in a total of 813 accidents registered in the region in 2021.
With these figures, Ludhiana earns the dubious honor of being the only district in Punjab to report more than 450 road fatalities. Patiala leads the list with 434 deaths.Meanwhile, another 240 people were seriously injured in the accident in Ludhiana
The number is also a sharp increase from 2020, when a total of 499 deaths were reported. Meanwhile, road accidents claimed a total of 508 lives in 2019, according to the report.
Speeding and reckless driving are leading killers
Speeding and reckless driving have become the main killers of the increase in accidents, and reverse driving has also caused a large number of deaths.
In the first category of cases, a tragic accident claimed the lives of five people – including three toddlers – in September this year when their speeding car crashed into the Veer Palace on Chandigarh Road. A utility pole was hit nearby. Police said the car was traveling at 120 kilometers per hour.
A 32-year-old man on a bicycle was also killed when a speeding tractor ran over him near Ayali Chowk in December last year. Meanwhile, the backseat rider was seriously injured.
Traffic experts attribute the increase in accident deaths to poor planning and a failure to take preventive measures, all of which take into account the increase in the city’s population and traffic.
Kamaljit Soi, member of the National Road Safety Committee, said: “It is no surprise that Ludhiana again ranks among the cities with the highest road fatalities, with poor roads and poorly enforced regulations”
The monthly data showed that accidental fatalities were the highest, with 64 reported in December, followed by February, August and September, with 62 fatalities in each month.
Out of a total of 813 road accident cases registered in Ludhiana, 210 cases fell under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 174 and resulted in 212 deaths. FIRs were registered under different sections of the Indian Penal Code in 603 cases which claimed the lives of 437 persons and seriously injured 240 persons.
91 of Punjab’s 377 Phase 1 black spots are in Ludhiana
Another telling finding was that 91 of the 253 phase one blackspots identified in Punjab – places where road accidents have historically concentrated – are located in areas under the jurisdiction of the Ludhiana Police Service. A total of 27 and 13 second-stage black spots fall under the purview of the Khanna and Ludhiana village police respectively.
Speaking on the same issue, National Road Safety Council member Kamaljit Soi. “To the shame of the authorities, after years of identifying blackspots, the number of blackspots has not decreased.”
Fog factor: Speeding heavy vehicle crushes three
A combination of heavy fog and speeding heavy vehicles caused a dramatic reduction in visibility, leading to three major crashes on Tuesday — killing a public school teacher, a college student and an identified person. The accident happened within just three kilometers between Dehlon chowk and Tibba chowk.
The 40-year-old teacher, identified as Jaspinder Kaur, died after being hit by a heavy vehicle near Tibba chowk. The mother-of-two Kaur suffered serious injuries to the right side of her forehead in the crash at about 8.15am.
The day before, the deceased had posted a WhatsApp status reminding her family and friends to drive carefully during the foggy season.
Aasi Kalan second-year student Kammo, 22, died in Dehlon Chowk after a speeding truck hit her scooter. The accident also injured her cousin. Meanwhile, an unidentified person was strangled in the morning after being run over by a truck.
In all three cases, the unidentified drivers were registered with the FIR.
After the accident, Police Deputy Commissioner (Operations and Special Units) Sameer Verma asked people to observe traffic precautions. Police were taking action against vehicles violating the speed limit, he added.
