SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Apr 16: With India leading the nations in road accidents as per a report from World Road Statistics, a look at Ranchi’s statistics seems of importance. As per officials, drugs, drinking and speeding are causing most of the road accidents in the state capital. With no actions taken on drunk driving throughout the pandemic lockdown, drivers in Ranchi, seem to have forgotten about it completely.
According to the data of Road Safety Cell, in the year 2021, a total of 448 people died in different accidents in Ranchi, while 339 were seriously injured. Throughout the year, that is from January to December there were a total of 644 road accidents registered. Meanwhile, as per figures released for the year 2022, from January to March, 156 road accidents have taken place this year. In these, 119 people have died, while more than 60 were injured. Meanwhile, most of the deaths were those of youth between the ages of 20 and 30 years. Of these, most of the victims were driving while under the influence of alcohol.
As per the figures, the death toll increases in months of December and January. It is evident from this that the youth is more careless before and during New Year celebrations. The highest number of accidents and deaths occurred in the year 2021 in December with the count of accidents being 52, whereas in the month of January of 2022, a death toll of 51 has been recorded. As per officials, the death rate in 2021 was 1.22 percent, while in 2022, the death rate is already 1.32 percent.
| MONTHS 2021 | ACCIDENT | DEATHS | INJURED |
| January 2021 | 58 | 44 | 30 |
| February 2021 | 45 | 32 | 13 |
| March 2021 | 70 | 42 | 35 |
| April 2021 | 35 | 23 | 21 |
| May 2021 | 49 | 36 | 27 |
| June 2021 | 30 | 25 | 11 |
| July 2021 | 52 | 36 | 25 |
| August 2021 | 60 | 33 | 33 |
| September 2021 | 48 | 33 | 21 |
| October 2021 | 62 | 46 | 37 |
| November 2021 | 60 | 46 | 29 |
| December 2021 | 75 | 52 | 35 |
| TOTAL | 644 | 448 | 317 |
| MONTHS 2022 | |||
| January 2022 | 61 | 51 | 25 |
| February 2022 | 46 | 32 | 17 |
| March 2022 | 49 | 36 | 18 |
| TOTAL | 156 | 119 | 60 |
Road safety expert Rishabh Anand said, “Most of the accidents happen due to intoxication and speed. Loss of control on roads is also one of the reasons. Focusing on these three factors will reduce road accidents. The administration should initiate action against Drunk and Drive as a fear of fines may be able to control it.”
City SP Anshuman Kumar who is also in-charge of traffic for the moment said, “I am yet to see the data. As far as breathalyzer tests are concerned, we do them when we have orders. I will not be able to confirm at the time if we are still doing those.”
