Alcohol and drug intake has claimed close to 8,000 lives in 24,000 road accidents across the country in 2012. According to the latest report on road accidents compiled by the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Uttar Pradesh topped the death toll list with 2,414 casualties followed by Madhya Pradesh (919), Bihar (805), Tamil Nadu (731) and Jharkhand (438).
The report shows that Madhya Pradesh witnessed maximum number of vehicle crashes due to alcohol/drug intake with 5,374 accidents (averages to close to 15 accidents per day), followed by Uttar Pradesh (4,558) Tamil Nadu (3,096), Andhra Pradesh (1,660) and Bihar (1, 572).
“Although the number of accidents has shown a downward trend during the last two years and number of fatalities has also come down during 2012 for the first time, the number is still very high,” said Roads Minister Oscar Fernandes. He was speaking at the meeting of National Road Safety Council.
“All States should put in efforts to prioritise road safety at the political level and as a development issue. It is important to establish institutional mechanisms responsible for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating road safety programmes,”
he said. Fernandes also asked Chief Ministers to step up efforts to curb the menace of driving under influence (DUI). Referring to the National Road Safety Policy, which was approved in March 2010, Fernandes asked State heads to prepare a time-bound action plan with annual targets and commensurate allocation of resources.
The report also showed that 2,23,902 vehicle crashes occurred due to exceeding lawful speed limits. The casualities reported were 60,720 and injuries were as high as 2,35,779. Maharashtra reported the highest number of accidents (39,938) as well as deaths (8,607) due to speeding. Tamil Nadu followed next with 28,265 accidents and 8,043 deaths. Madhya Pradesh saw about 21,755 speed-induced vehicle crashes, with 3,494 deaths.