new delhi: The latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on accidental deaths showed that road accidents in Delhi had reduced by 14 per cent in 2019 compared to the previous year, with a total of 5,601 road mishaps logged last year, which killed 1,508 people and injured 4,949. And keeping with the trend, men were more likely to have been killed in road accidents than women.
In 2018, Delhi saw 6,517 accident cases, leading to 1,734 deaths and 5,640 injured people, the data showed.
The number of such cases was much more in 2017 when 6,672 accidents were recorded across Delhi. However, the number of people killed that year stood at 1,638 and that of those injured was 6,086, stated the NCRB data from that year.
A gender-wise study of the victims done by the NCRB, which functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), states that more men than women had died and suffered injuries in the road crashes.
In 2019 and 2017, men formed 90 per cent of the victims who died in road crashes in the Capital, while the figure stood at 89 per cent in 2018, according to the data. Both in 2019 and 2018, 85 per cent of the people injured in road crashes in the city were males, while the figure stood at 87 per cent in 2017, it added.
Altogether, 1.54 lakh people were killed across India in 4,37,396 cases of 'road accidents' that also rendered 4.39 lakh people injured, the data for 2019 revealed.
MHA officials said the NCRB report for 2019 shows that the number of road accidents in most states had declined and held the new Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) as a reason behind the improvement.
In the national capital, the deaths in cases of road accidents have seen a major decline from 1,734 to 1,508, one MHA official said, adding, this was largely due to focused enforcement drives carried out by the Delhi Police in black spots and accident-prone areas, road safety awareness campaigns carried out with special emphasis on school children and auto and bus drivers.
The placement of CCTV cameras at important traffic junctions, amendments in the MVA and suggestions given by Delhi Police in aspects related to road engineering which have been undertaken and are continuing, such as street lighting, grills on central verges , foot overbridges and shifting of bus stops to less congested areas also helped, the official added.
Delhi Police have also been carrying out accident cause analysis of each fatal accident and rectification measures are being taken accordingly. In addition, traffic police deployment is being done as per time and space analysis of traffic, the MHA official said.