Haryana has witnessed a 26.71% fall in cases of road accidents during the first half of 2020 in comparison to the corresponding period of last year. From about 30 daily cases of mishaps reported in 2019, the number fell to 22 in 2020. Similarly, the road fatalities declined by 26.77% between January and June while injuries to persons also saw an impressive dip of 26.88%.
Giving this information in Chandigarh on Thursday, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk informed that reduction in road mishaps and fatalities has been possible with better traffic safety measures, improved enforcement of traffic regulations by the field units as well as continuous awareness about road and traffic safety. However, the lockdown enforced to contain the spread of Covid-19 from March 24 to May 31 also contributed to a significant dip in road accidents in the state.
Virk said that the number of road mishaps between January and June this year came down to 4,024 from 5,491 in 2019, showing a fall of 1,467 cases. The incidents of casualties also went down by 678 cases, from 2,532 in 2019 to 1,854 in 2020.
Similarly, incidents of injuries to people also saw an impressive decline of 1247 cases. In total, 3,391 cases of injuries to persons were reported till June 2020 as compared to 4,638 last year. “We are hoping that road mishaps could be reduced further. In addition to the awareness on road safety, our field units are also keeping a close eye on drunk driving and speeding, one of the major causes of accidents,” added Virk.