Most of 16,000 who died in TN in road mishaps in 2017 were motorists

Over 16,000 persons, a majority of them motorists, lost their lives in more than 65,000 road accidents in 2017 in Tamil Nadu, the state government said today.

"In the year 2017, there were 65,562 accidents in our state (Tamil Nadu) with 16,157 fatalities due to them," an official release here said.

The Transport Department release, issued to detail the highlights of the Road Safety Week starting April 23, said more motorists died in these mishaps, though it did not give out any numbers in this regard.

The state government was taking various efforts to ensure safe roads and the Road Safety Week was an initiative in this regard, it added.

The Road Safety Week, scheduled between April 23 and 30, will have various programmes including rallies and awareness initiatives focussed on the need of wearing helmets and seatbelt, speed control and adherence to traffic rules, it said.