MP: Using mobile phone while driving killed 338 people in 2022

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): As many as 338 people lost their lives in road accidents in 2022 as they were driving their vehicle while talking on their mobile phone, says a report released by PTRI . Every year hundreds of people die on the roads, because of the driver’s negligence. In 2022, a total of 54,432 road accidents were reported and in these 13,427 people had lost their lives, says the PTRI’s data.

In a research conducted by Police Training and Research Institute (PTRI), it came to fore areas under jurisdiction of 200 police stations across the state have reported maximum accidents in 2022. Currently the state has nearly 1100 police stations. As per the PRTI research, rural areas reported more road mishaps than the urban areas.

Around 9,531 people had died in rural areas in road accidents while the fatalities stood at 3,896 in urban areas. The maximum number of road fatalities took place because of over speeding. As many as 10,356 people had died because of the speeding vehicle. Ironically, the year also saw the death of 137 cyclists in road accidents .

More than 3500 people became the victim of ‘hit and run’ cases, still hundreds of cases are unsolved because the police are unable to track the killer vehicle and the driver.

Drink and drive left 342 people dead in the state. As the state government have now shut Ahatas, from April 1, the authorities hope the cases will see a significant drop from this year onward. . In all 1672 pedestrians had lost their lives last year because of reckless driving.

Cause  Fatalities

Over speeding 10,356

Hit and Run    3500

Helmetless driving      4,896

Driving sans seat belt 1809

Wrong side driving     760

Drink and drive           342

Bus Accident  312

Truck Accidents          1193

Auto rickshaw 363

Speeding vehicles caused max accidents: ADG

ADG, PTRI, G Janardan while talking to Free Press said advisories have been issued several times against talking on mobile phones while driving as it puts the life of driver as well as others in danger. “Most of the accident cases had taken place because of speeding vehicles,” said the officer. “The new cars and other vehicles coming nowadays have high pickup, but the drivers are not well trained to assess and control the vehicle speed and this is leading to accidents,” said the official. The drivers need to be given proper training about dealing with the new vehicles, so that the passengers and others on the road shall remain safe, he added.