There has been an increase in road accident cases in comparison to last two years in the State. Out of 421 road accidents, 116 road accident cases were reported in Udham Singh Nagar, 92 in Dehradun and 90 in Haridwar till April 30 this year. 264 persons died while 416 were seriously injured in road accidents so far this year. A total of 395 road accident cases were reported in 2013 and 528 in 2012.
Though, authorities claimed to have taken several measures to minimise road accidents the mishaps are not decreasing in the State. According to information from the police head quarter, six cases of road accident were reported in Uttarkashi wherein nine persons died and 11 were seriously injured; 16 road accident cases were reported while 26 persons died and 32 were seriously injured in Tehri.
In Chamoli district, nine died and 25 were seriously injured in 11 road accidents; three died and 20 were seriously injured in eight road accidents in Rudraprayag; two died and seven were seriously injured in seven mishaps in Pauri; 49 persons died and 72 were seriously injured in 92 road accidents in Dehradun; 51 died and 83 were seriously injured in 90 road accidents in Haridwar district; 36 died and 38 were seriously injured in 62 road accidents in Nainital; 72 died and 99 were seriously injured in 116 road accidents in Udham Singh Nagar while six died and 29 were seriously injured in 13 accidents reported in Almora, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar and Champawat.
Drunken driving is a major problem on the roads of Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and elsewhere in the State as driving under the influence of alcohol has become common nowadays.“Rash driving, overloading, untrained drivers and poor roads are among the factors that have led to the rise in fatal accidents. A majority (90 per cent) of them were due to drunken driving and human error,” said State Additional director general of police (law and order) Ram Singh Meena.
He said that several measures were taken to reduce road accident cases in the State. The district police heads have been directed to identify accident prone areas and deploy police force sufficiently there.The police officers have been directed to conduct awareness campaign on road safety at important places periodically. The police officers have been directed to deploy police personnel on roads as part of intensive check against drunken driving and rash driving.