Incessant rain this monsoon has led to early setting in of winter season and early morning chill and fog could be experienced distinctly in Kurnool and Anantapur districts compared to previous years.
Increased road accidents during the four months of the winter give drivers a nightmare and the recorded number of accidents and fatalities in October, November, December, and January account for close to half of the calendar year’s total. In Anantapur district, while the total number of accident cases and fatalities last year (2020) were 1,118 and 612, as many as 504 accidents and 272 deaths respectively were recorded in the winter.
Superintendent of Police Fakkeerappa Kaginelli tells The Hindu, during 2020 and 2021, the total number of accident cases recorded was low compared to the previous two years due to the lockdown and curfew imposed to arrest the spread of COVID-19.
Anantapur and Kurnool districts have a vast network of national highways, one of the best-maintained roads in the country, but they account for close to 45% of all the accidents.
“The State highways and other roads account for a higher number of accidents due to bad engineering and alignment, sharp or blind curves. On highways usually, it is the overconfidence of the vehicle driver clubbed with bad visibility due to weather conditions that cause accidents,” Mr. Fakkeerappa says.
Contributing factors
Lack of Anti-Braking System in fast-moving old vehicles, absence of proper headlights and rear-view mirror cause most of the accidents in the early hours when the driver is usually sleepy, he adds. Switching on fog lights permanently in winter months is a must, he opines.
National highways alone accounted for 503 accidents and 288 fatalities in 2020 and 481 accidents and 299 deaths in 2021 till December 23. The number of accidents on State highways was almost the same at 244 last year and 242 this year. On other minor roads, 344 accidents were reported in 2020 and 373 this year with fatalities shooting up from 169 to 185.
