Road accidents in Delhi fell to 8,623 from 8,085 in 2015
The number of road accidents and fatalities in the national capital saw a dip last year, shows the latest accident data released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH). In 2014, the number of road accidents in the city was 8,623, and in 2015 it was 8,085.
The number of people killed in accidents also went down from 1,671 in 2014 to 1,622 in 2015. The data was submitted in response to a question put up by Hussain Dalwai, member of Parliament, in Rajya Sabha.
The data also showed that across the country there has been an increase of 4.6% in the total accident fatalities. From 139,671 in 2014, the number of fatalities rose to 146,133.
“Though there is a visible decrease in the number of road accidents in the national capital, India still has the highest road accident fatalities globally. This calls for a strong legislation that protects all classes of road users,” said Saji Cherian, director (operations), Save LIFE Foundation.
The figures by Delhi Traffic Police, compiled since 1990, show a similar trend. In 1990, the number of road accident deaths in Delhi stood at 1,622.
“Our focus has been to control offences which lead to fatalities. Our efforts in future will also be to bring down such road accidents and imbibe a culture of safety among people,” said Sandeep Goel, special commissioner of police (traffic).
The reply to Dalwai’s question also focused on the steps taken by the government to improve infrastructure and road space safer for commuters.
“The government has approved a National Road Safety Policy which will work towards promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws etc. Along with this, the formation of a National Road Safety Council is also in the pipeline, which will take policy decisions in the matter of road safety,” the reply read.