A report analysed by the Maharashtra State Highway Police has revealed that potholes led to 522 road accidents across the state in 2018 and killed 166 people.
The report by the state’s Accident Research Cell, which was released earlier this month, said that more than 50 per cent accidents took place due to the improper condition of roads and infrastructure. Of this, 353 people were grievously injured in pothole-related accidents.
“Road accidents in Maharashtra in 2018 have resulted in over 13,000 deaths, the highest in the last three years,” said the report. Of the 44,626 people involved in road accidents in the state, 30 per cent people lost their life.
With 3,162 accidents, Mumbai had the highest number of accidents, and Pune Rural district had the maximum number of fatalities at 1,009.
While 883 people were killed in accidents at way junctions, 477 people lost their lives after jumping red lights. The report also stated that 11.4 per cent of victims died on curved roads, and 3.64 per cent died on under-construction roads. In 2018, straight stretches of roads in rural areas witnessed deaths of a massive scale of 9,528 deaths and 27,021 accidents.
The report also attributed drunk driving, jumping red lights, not wearing helmets or seat belts, speeding, lane cutting, and overtaking as the most common causes of accidents. Increased traffic on roads during holidays also raised the chances of accidents.
While 1,656 people lost their lives as they were not wearing seatbelts, 5,252 two-wheeler riders died because of not wearing helmets. The latter accounted for 38 per cent of road accidents in the state last year.
Of the 17,613 deaths in 2018, 475 accounted to pedestrians deaths in 1,537 accidents on zebra crossings, pavements and footbridges or subways.
However, according to the report, the number of accidents in Maharashtra has come down compared to the previous years. From 39,787 accidents in 2016 and 36,056 in 2017, the number came down to 35,717 in 2018.
