More than 3,500 accidents took place in India due to potholes in 2020
A total of 3,564 road accidents took place in the country due to potholes in the year 2020, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari informed the Parliament. The accidents have been reported to be the lowest in then last five years. The total number of road accidents due to potholes in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 were 6,424, 9,423, 4,869 and 4,775 respectively.
Gadkari added that his ministry has put together a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on four factors - Education, Engineering of both roads and vehicles, Enforcement and Emergency Care.
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Elaborating on the total number of accidents that took place in the year 2019, Gadkari said that the figures have declined by 4 per cent to 4,49,002. Of these, overspeeding caused 3,19,028 mishaps while drunken driving/consumption of alcohol and drugs caused 12,256. The number of accidents due to driving on wrong side/ lane indiscipline, jumping red light and use of mobile phone in 2019 stood at 24,431; 4,443 and 10,522, respectively.
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Talking about the reasons that cause accidents or crashes, the minister pointed out that there could be multiple reasons such as automobile design, over speeding, use of mobile phone, drunken driving/consumption of alcohol / drug, overloaded vehicle, vehicular condition and poor light condition.
Apart from these, other factors include jumping red light, overtaking, neglect of civic bodies, weather condition, fault of driver, driving on wrong side, defect in road condition, defect in condition of motor vehicle, fault of cyclist and fault of pedestrian, among others.
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Gadkari informed the Parliament that road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage and that his ministry has allocated high priority to identification and rectification of black spots or accident prone spot on national highways. The minister has time and again touted the importance of safe driving and has also urged OEMs to design their vehicles to match international safety standards.
(with inputs from PTI)
