A combination of factors has led to road accidents in Kerala decreasing by 34% and fatalities by 40% during the January-September 2020 period, as compared with the corresponding period in 2019, due to what MVD officials said was fewer number of heavy vehicles being on the road and stricter rule enforcement.
The number of accidents fell from 30,751 to 20,091, while the number of deaths too lessened, from 3,398 to 2,036, during the nine-month period, as per data shared by the MVD.
The noticeable fall in accidents and fatalities occurred even as there was a phenomenal increase in the number of private vehicles on roads, corresponding to the fall in the number of buses and other modes of public commute following the pandemic situation, said the nodal officer for MVD’s Safe Kerala Project, Shibu K. Itty.
Hitherto, buses and goods carriers used to cause a disproportionate number of accidents, especially those involving fatalities.
Mr. Itty spoke of how stepped-up traffic rule enforcement, even amidst the pandemic situation played a key role in reining in rule violators and thereby accidents.
“A dedicated team of enforcement personnel were deployed under the Safe Kerala Project (SRP) in highways and other roads to initiate action against drunk driving, chatting over the cell phone and driving sans helmet/seat belt. Automated rule enforcement too was stepped up during the period since the Supreme Court’s road safety committee has been monitoring the functioning of the SRP. The driving licence of a substantial number of people caught for these offences, rash driving, overloading, and those who caused accidents, were suspended, apart from levying of enhanced fine amounts. Automated enforcement has helped prompt and faster action. Over time, all this became a deterrent to rule violators”.
Automated enforcement is set to intensify since control rooms will be established in all districts by February 2021. Personnel manning them will monitor a minimum of 50 artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cameras that are being installed in each district. The functioning of these portable, wireless cameras will improve with age, since the self-learning process of these machines will improve their accuracy as years pass by. Enforcement will further be tightened since the MVD has deployed personnel in 65 e-cars to keep tabs on rule violations. Adherence to lane discipline too will be emphasised. “We have set a target to halve the number of road accident fatalities and to reduce road accidents by 30%, by 2025,” Mr. Itty said.
Joint Transport Commissioner (Retd) Shaji Joseph said that rule violations and accidents involving youth riding new-generation/altered motor bikes and overloaded goods carriers was a cause for concern. “Most youths wake up late from sleep and indulge in rash driving to reach their destination to make up for the lost time,” he said.
