Speed thrills and kills in city

KOCHI: Travelling through the city roads has become a risky affair with road accidents on the rise in the district.According to the statistics available with the police, Ernakulam has the highest accident rate in the state.Road mishaps claimed 267 lives and left 2,011 grievously injured last year in the district, said the road accidents report brought out by the Kerala Police for the period January 2011-June 30.As many as 2,695 cases of accidents were reported in the district while 2,161 accidents were reported in Thiruvananthapuram.The number of cases in Kozhikode was just 1,444.A surprising fact was that the accidents during day time has increased two-fold.“Negligent driving is the main reason for the rise in accidents.Though new vehicles are hitting the roads every day, the infrastructure available is not enough to contain the spurt in the number of vehicles,” RTO T J Thomas said.Meanwhile, Ernakulam East Traffic police assistant commissioner Baby Vinod said the police were taking stringent steps to bring down accidents.“Speeding is the main reason for mishaps during day time.The rash and competitive driving of private bus drivers also contributes to this,” he added.The shocking fact is that the accidents caused by private buses were more in Ernakulam compared to other districts.In the city limits, 127 private bus accidents occurred while the number was 148 in the rural areas.However, the number of drunk driving cases has gone down sharply.Only three cases of death due to drunk driving were reported in the district during the period while Thiruvananthapuram had 36 similar accidents.No such cases were reported in Ernakulam rural areas.“The number of drunk driving cases fell mainly owing to the regular checking carried out by the police,” Baby Vinod said.The number of accidents involving private buses was 275.Over 804 cases involved cars while 415 were caused by auto-rickshaws.Twowheeler- related mishaps were around 1,950.The report also said the number of accidents owing to rash driving was high in Ernakulam with 2,627 cases.The number of accidents on ordinary roads (1,587) was higher than on National Highways and State Highways.Other vehicles involved in the accidents were KSRTC buses (102), lorries (213) and mini buses (141).IG K Padmakumar“We believe that the trend seen up to June continued till the end of the year and accident rate will be highest in Ernakulam compared to others.Vehicle population in the district has increased and the road structure has to be improved.Patrolling will be intensified in the coming days and speed traps will be used to monitor speeding vehicles in the day time,” he said.The police have intensified checking for drunk driving.The statistics show decrease in drunk driving accidents.The police will take stringent action against vehicles parked on footpaths,” he said