The report identified pedestrians as the most vulnerable road users and two-wheelers as the second most vulnerable categories constituting 41 per cent and 38 per cent of the total persons killed in road crashes, respectively in 2021
New Delhi;
The Delhi Police identified 20 crash-prone zones as hit-and-run zones in the city in 2021, according to an official report.
The criteria to identify such zones was based on three or more fatal crashes (hit-and-run cases) registered within the range of 500-metre diameter, the report released by the city police said.
Shastri Park/IT Park, Punjabi Bagh Chowk, Mukarba Chowk, Seemapuri roundabout and Bhalswa Chowk reported four fatal crashes (hit and run) each. Similarly, Haider Pur Metro Station, Libaspur bus stand, Prem Bari pull, Rajdhani Park, Rama Road crossing, GTK Depot, Okhla More reported three fatal crashes (hit and run) each, the report stated.
“Installation of CCTV cameras and stationing of CATs ambulances at these places can be effective in preventing fatalities. These are the places with high-speed corridors and the places where there is heavy vehicle movement during the night,” it added.
Pedestrians continued to be the most vulnerable in road crashes in the national capital, accounting for nearly 41 per cent of the fatalities reported last year, while west district emerged as the highest crash prone district, according to Delhi Road Crash Fatalities Report 2021. Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora on Friday launched the report containing the analysis of the accidents that occurred last year.
In a break from tradition, the Delhi Traffic Police replaced the word ‘accident’ with ‘crash’ in the annual report that was previously titled ‘Road Accidents in Delhi’.
Last year, 4,720 road crashes killed 1,239 people in Delhi and injured 4,273 people, said the report, adding that there was a 3.6 per cent increase in fatal crashes as compared to 2020.
Noting that Delhi has witnessed massive growth of population due to constant influx of people from neighbouring states attributing to rapid growth in vehicle volume, the report said it has brought problems of traffic congestion, delays, improper parking, and pollution caused by vehicular emissions.
The last two years — 2020 and 2021 — were especially more challenging for the traffic police because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequential lockdown coupled with social distancing norms in all aspects of life, it added.
”With the growth of population, and more vehicles on the road, the risk of crashes has also increased. The heterogeneity and magnitude of vehicle population, unpredictability of human behaviour, economic constraints, insufficient road markings and signages, defective road designing AND deficiencies in vehicle design, are some of the factors leading to road crashes in Delhi.
”In addition to it, drunk driving, overspeeding, overloading, and violation of traffic rules are the common causes of traffic crashes,” it noted.
The report identified pedestrians as the most vulnerable road users and two-wheelers as the second most vulnerable categories constituting 41 per cent and 38 per cent of the total persons killed in road crashes, respectively in 2021.
The Delhi Police chief said they are focussing on more pedestrian-centric traffic management.
“Based on the current evidence that crashes are preventable and not by ‘accident’, we know through years of analysis that these crashes can be identified and prevented. It is a conscious effort into working towards preventing crashes and saving lives, which the Delhi Traffic Police have been doing through several years,” Arora said.
Sharing that the efforts of the Delhi Traffic Police have led to a total reduction in road crash deaths in Delhi by 34 per cent over the last decade, he said ”we have now increased focus on more pedestrian centric traffic management”.
Last year, the Delhi Traffic Police identified 10 black spots — Bhalswa Chowk, Punjabi Bagh Chowk, Mukarba Chowk, Zakhira Flyover, Libaspur Bus Stand, Mukundpur Chowk, Moti Bagh Flyover, Nangli Poona, Siraspur and Shastri Park/IT Park.
The Outer Ring Road, Ring Road, Rohtak Road, GTK Road and Najafgarh Road figured in the list of most crash prone roads in Delhi. The report also identified crash prone zones for pedestrians and motorcyclists where Outer Ring Road and Ring Road were the two top-most crash prone zones for both groups of road users.
In terms of total road crashes in 2021, West district (648) was the highest crash prone district followed by North-West (580), while New Delhi (136) and Central district (200) registered the lowest road crashes in Delhi during 2021.
The report stated that the vulnerable road users do not have the kind of protective covering offered by cars and heavy vehicles. According to the official data, 22.5 per cent of the total road crash victims lost their lives in 2021 as compared to 24.6 per cent in 2020.
”The fatality rate amongst all road crash victims has been decreasing steadily for the last few years, except in 2018 and 2021, wherein the fatality rate had increased,” it said.
Throwing light on the fact that pedestrians are the most vulnerable victims in fatal road crashes and continue to suffer the highest casualties in preventable road crashes, it said that in 2021, a total of 504 pedestrians lost their lives and 1,536 were injured, as compared to 505 pedestrians who lost their lives and 1,241 pedestrians who were injured in 2020.
”This represents 40.7 per cent amongst all victims killed in 2021 as compared to 42.2 per cent in 2020. Proportions for the injured pedestrians were higher — 35.9 per cent in 2021 against 33.9 per cent in 2020.
The trend in the deaths of pedestrians shows that the share of pedestrian deaths range between 40-50 per cent of the total victims of fatal crashes,” it said.
After pedestrians, motorcyclists were the next most vulnerable category of victims and account for 472 (38.1 per cent) of all fatalities in road crashes in Delhi and 1,868 (43.7 per cent) of all injured victims in 2021.
In 2021, fatal crashes involving two-wheeler riders saw an increase with them being victims in one of every three road crash deaths or injuries.
Two-wheeler riders injured in road crashes also increased from 1,613 in 2020 to 1,868 in 2021.
The report said the share of deaths of car occupants out of total fatalities has remained between 2 to 4 per cent. The share of deaths of car occupants increased from 3.1 per cent (2020) to 3.4 per cent (2021), while bus commuters are among the safest road users.
As for cyclists injured in road crashes, the percentage has been reducing gradually over the last 15 years, and has come down from 5.1 per cent in 2007 to 2.9 per cent in 2021, it said.
Regarding the type of vehicles, it said in 2021, cars/taxis caused 176 fatal crashes accounting for 14.6 per cent of total fatal crashes, also the highest crash share by vehicle type.
It also said vehicles registered in Delhi caused more fatal crashes followed by those registered in Haryana.