Two-wheelers appear to be the most vulnerable road users in the national Capital, reveals a data provided by the Delhi Traffic Police. The first three months of the current year have recorded an upward trend of fatalities caused by bikes, as compared to the last year.
Around 185 two-wheeler riders were killed on the roads of Delhi in the first three months of the year. As per the data, fatality rate is higher compared to the last year as around 557 such deaths were reported in the entire year.
According to a circular issued by Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic Operations) Arun Kampani, “Chances of bike riders and pillion riders being killed or seriously injured in road accidents are much higher than the driver/occupants of other vehicles.”
In 2016, 1,487 fatal accidents were recorded whereas in 2017, it was a little lower at 1,474. Further the data, a copy of which is with The Pioneer, revealed that nearly 2,680 bikers were injured in 2017, whereas the number of injured cases observed by the Delhi Police in 2018 (up to April 30) is 862.
“Two-wheeler riders in the city are one of the most vulnerable riders in the city. But if these riders wear a helmet or headgear, their chances of survival will improve to a great extent and it will also help prevent the fear of loss of lives and serious injuries while driving,” added Kampani.
“The Delhi Traffic Police has been trying to educate two-wheeler riders especially the youth to maintain the prescribed speed limits while they on the road, as two-wheelers especially scooty are pretty risky. Our studies have found that people on two-wheelers do not wear proper helmets and violate traffic rules coupled with drunken driving. They must adhere to traffic rules to avoid mishaps on the roads,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Garima Bhatnagar.
“Not wearing helmet is one thing but one of the basic reasons is the lack of proper licensing system. These days what happen is if you pay extra 1,000-2,000 bucks during the training, you get your licence. This is the trend because in my own observation, I have found that the youth especially are so unruly and do not follow the traffic rules,” said PK Sarkar, Director (Transportation), Asian Institute of Transport Development.
Other important reasons are, over speeding, frequent lane changing as per own convenient without caring about others. Apart from this, the other reasons are no separate lane for the two-wheeler riders and these riders use the expressways, which are specially designed for the heavy and high-speed vehicles with 100-120 km/h but the motorcycles do not have the capability to drive 80-100 kilometers a hour.
“So, strict policy is the need of the hour. Malaysia and China have a separate lane for the two wheelers. Installation of cameras in the red lights and expressways and should increase the challans up to Rs 5,000 to bring down the accident rates by 2020,” Sarkar said.