PANAJI: Overspeeding has come to be identified as the single most common cause of road accidents in Goa accounting for nearly 91 per cent of the 3,011 mishaps in the State in the 2022 calendar year.
Statistics compiled in a report by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways have revealed that 271 people died in these 3,011 accidents of which 2,751 (91 per cent) were due to over speeding.
Also in the accidents involving the 271 fatalities in that year, 240 people died in mishaps where the cause was over speeding.
Further 252 people suffered serious injuries in 192 of these accidents. Another 515 mishaps from among these were also responsible for 514 people suffering minor injuries, the statistics reveal.
Some of the reasons identified for the climbing graph of road mishaps in Goa include bad roads, road engineering defects, negligent driving and flagrant violation of traffic rules.
Accident prevention campaigns had negligible effect
Several campaigns launched by both the transport department as well as the Goa Police’s traffic cells including concerted drives to check drunken driving and overspeeding, have had negligible effect on the number of accidents occurring on Goan roads.
According to a senior police officer, fines for traffic violations is hardly a deterrent for drivers in Goa. Despite the introduction of AI and technology to remotely detect and punish traffic violators, the levels of rash driving in Goa is showing no signs of declining.
Drunk driving another contributor to accidents
Drunken driving is another major cause of worry in the State, the officer said and this reflects in the statistics of 2022, where two terrible accidents caused by drunken drivers claimed lives.
Using mobile phones while driving is another major distraction which often leads to accidents and the traffic cell of the Goa Police department has continuously launched massive drives to detect and fine the violators. However, the 2022 accident statistics of the Transport Ministry do not reveal any case of a mishap caused because of use of a cell phone while driving.
Meanwhile, nearly half the people who died in 2022, approximately 127 people, were due to accidents which occurred on national highways in the State. Highway accidents were also responsible for 327 people suffering grave injuries.
On State highways, there were 446 accidents and, 45 people died in these with 206 people seriously injured. On other district and minor roads, 99 people died in 1,306 accidents
