Highway cops use i-RAD way to reduce mishaps

More than 30,000 road accidents take place in Maharashtra every year. File pic

The Maharashtra Highway Traffic Police is taking one more step towards reducing the number of road accidents on national and state highways with the help of Integrated Road Accident Database or i-RAD, which was launched last year to centralise road accidents data. According to the department, they have received data from the past year and experts are working to analyse the same, which is expected in the next two weeks.

"i-RAD was launched last year on January 26 in Maharashtra and four other states with the aim to collect data of accidents in states and districts, to analyse why, how and where the accidents are taking place. Based on this, policies will be made to prevent the same," said Kulwant Sarangal, ADG Traffic, Maharashtra. He added that the data will also include the status of cop deployment in the area and response time.

37 accident deaths per day in 2021

According to Maharashtra highway traffic police, every year the state sees over 30,000 road accidents, leading to the deaths of around 13,000 people. In 2019, 32,925 accidents took place, killing 12,788 people. In 2020, the numbers had dropped due to the lockdown with 24,971 accidents and 11,569 deaths. The year 2021 saw a rise again as lockdown restrictions were eased, with 29,494 accidents and 13,528 fatalities. The number of daily fatalities due to accidents stood at 37 in the state last year.

As per the data, Mumbai tops the list of districts with most accidents, followed by Pune, Ahmednagar, Nashik, Palghar, Nagpur city, Yavatmal, Solapur, Raigad.

Sarangal said, "There are a number of factors behind the accidents, however one of the major factors is the human factor, wherein accidents take place due to negligence. Other factors include environmental factor and engineering of the road. In cases of engineering factor leading to any accident, we share the details with the authorities concerned to rectify the issue."

Black spots

Apart from reducing the number of accidents, the police are also working to minimise the number of black spots - places where traffic accidents are concentrated. As per the data, there are a total of 1,377 black spots on national and state highways in the state and these account for a majority of the accidents. A highway traffic officer said, "There is proper marking at these spots with warning signs, placed 500 metres before and after it, asking motorists to drive at a certain speed."

Another area that the highway traffic cops are focussing on is the pendency of e-challan. In the past three years, 5.37 crore e-challans with a total of Rs 2,115 crore fine were issued, but only Rs 745 crore have recovered so far. "We have been calling national Lok Adalats for the recovery. The last Lok Adalat was organised in March which helped recover some of the fines," Sarangal said.

The highway police have also said that they will soon initiate legal action against those who have not paid e-challans. "People can go to the nearest police station to pay the amount or they will face legal action as per law," he said.

37
Average accident deaths per day in state in 2021