T.N. police report drop in fatal road accidents

DGP Shankar Jiwal says enforcement of traffic rules and other road safety measures led to 5% fall in fatalities

Tamil Nadu has reported a 5% reduction in the number of fatal road accidents and consequent deaths, from January to July 2024, compared to the data from the same period in the previous year.

Attributing the fall in fatal road accidents to effective enforcement of traffic rules and other road safety measures, Director-General of Police and Head of the Police Force, Shankar Jiwal, said the number of fatal road accidents reported up to July this year was 10,066, in which 10,546 people lost their lives, compared to 10,589 fatal road accidents and 11,106 deaths in the previous year.

Some of the thrust areas that helped in controlling accidents were the issuing of challans against violators, drive against drunken driving, deploying highway patrols round-the-clock on National Highways, analysis of accident hotspots, and rectification of defects, among others. “These measures have made significant positive contribution for the improvement of traffic and road accident scenario in the State,” Mr. Jiwal said in a statement issued on Sunday.

Suspension of driving licences

In the current year (up to July), 76,15,713 cases were registered for violations of the Motor Vehicle Act. Recommendations were sent to the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) for the suspension of the driving licences of 1,82,375 people, who violated various motor vehicle rules. Of this, 39,924 driving licences were suspended by the authorities.

The 218 highway patrol vehicles covering the stretch of the National Highways and the State Highways across Tamil Nadu had rescued 8,809 persons, who were critically injured in road accidents, and shifted them to the nearest hospitals for treatment, within the golden hour. In total, highway patrol vehicles have assisted 14,957 people affected by road accidents, the DGP said.

Published - September 30, 2024 12:23 am IST