Coimbatore Accident List
Reckless driving and also crossing of roads by pedestrians are a major cause of accidents on city roads. And, many of these have been fatal, according to City Police Commissioner K.C. Mahali. The highest number of deaths was caused by accidents that occurred between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Studies from January 1 to June 30 revealed that 35 fatal and 123 non-fatal accidents occurred during this time.The 9 p.m. to midnight phase accounted for 30 fatal and 89 non fatal cases.Mr. Mahali pointed out that strangely, even the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and the noon to 3 p.m. phases recorded 27 and 26 fatal cases respectively. The non-fatal cases were 123 and 102 respectively (see Table). “This is because people take the roads for granted when there is thin traffic,” he said. After a review of traffic planning on Monday, Mr. Mahali again pointed out how human error contributed to a large number of accidents.
“People are tempted to drive fast when there is less traffic on the roads. Though we have prescribed 45 km as the speed limit within the city, people breach it.” “We are cracking down on this problem by trapping over speeding drivers with a speed gun and imposing fines on them. This is being done consistently in areas identified by us as accident-prone zones,” he said. “But, people have to obey rules and this will only avoid death on roads.”
Drunken driving was found to be a major reason for the accidents from 9 p.m. to midnight. Police were tackling this menace also.The Commissioner also blamed pedestrians for causing accidents, especially during the non-peak hours.“When they see a road with very little traffic, pedestrians take their own sweet time to cross the roads. They also take the traffic for granted,” he explained.With both the pedestrian and the driver of a vehicle sharing the same mindset, it became a perfect recipe for an accident, he said.Human error, drunk driving and speeding were among the factors that the police were studying on 10 major roads. The number of fatal cases on each of these roads was being specifically looked into, he said.
