After 10 yrs, Tamil Nadu registers 25 per cent dip in fatal accidents

Nearly 12,216 people were killed in road accidents across the State in 2018, the release said. This is a steep reduction from 16,157 people killed the previous year. Transport authorities said the downward trend has emerged after a decade. In 2008, TN had recorded 12,784 fatal accidents and 83,035 accidents.

Heath Minister C Vijaya Baskar said the decline in fatalities should be attributed to the establishment of accident trauma care centres. Speaking to reporters in Tiruchy, the Minister said as per Tamil Nadu’s accident trauma policy last year, 75 such centres were built with Rs 90 crore funds. “This led to reduction of accident trauma death cases by 20%. In Chennai, death rate has been reduced from 8.6 to 2.8%,” he added.

The State plans to build more such centres across TN and this year, Rs 130 crore has been allotted for the purpose. “Once these centres open, death rate would come down drastically,” Vijaya Baskar said.

The release further stated that since 2009, Tamil Nadu witnessed an upward trend in the number of fatal accidents. It touched the peak in 2016 when 17,218 people lost their lives in mishaps.   

On an average, nearly 175 road accidents occur daily with the probability of 33 people killed in road accidents.

A total of 63,920 road accidents were recorded in 2018. When compared to 2017 data, Tamil Nadu recorded 1,642 lesser road accidents as compared to the previous year when 65,562 accident cases were reported.

Since then, Transport Department had intensified road safety measures and awareness campaigns to reduce accidents. A Transport Department official said, “We undertook many steps, including stringent enforcement of traffic rules and conducted campaigns."