With the improvement of pedestrian safety measures, including increasing the height of railings on the pavements and construction of Foot-overbridges (FoBs), the number of pedestrian casualties on city roads has come down. This year Delhi has recorded the lowest pedestrian deaths in the last 10 years.
Increased and effective way of prosecution for dangerous driving and exceeding speed limits has also helped to tame traffic in the Capital, which is certainly visible with dip in pedestrian deaths. In 2003, total 965 pedestrians died, while in 2004 the number slightly increased to 985.
In 2005, there were 936 deaths, while in 2006, the number further rose to 1,031. In 2007, 1,074 pedestrians died in road accidents. The number of casualties kept on increasing in 2008, it reached the 1,043 mark. In 2009, it was 1,170. However after 2010, the Capital witnessed a downward trend and the number came down to 960. In 2011, it was 946 and in 2012 a total of 832 pedestrian deaths were reported. Till April, 2013, a total of 231 deaths have been reported.
The dip in accidents is remarkable as number of vehicles on Delhi roads have drastically increased from 62, 88, 342 in 2009 to 67, 55, 720 in 2013. In 2011, the approximate number of vehicles in Delhi was 72 lakh, said officials. The population in Delhi has also increased from 1.64 crore in 2009 to 1.70 crore in 2013.
"Road safety measures, including effective prosecution against traffic rule violations have started producing results and the number of pedestrian deaths has come down notably," said a senior traffic police officer.