Rash driving hits Assam hard

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 23: ‘Make haste slowly’ is the mantra for vehicle drivers in Assam where as many as 3,648 accident-related cases were registered in 2016. All those accidents were due to drivers resorting to over speed. The total number of accidents in the State in 2016 was 7,721 against 7,295 in 2015 and 7,144 in 2014. The trend is an increasing one.    

Most of the drivers who resort to go for ‘more speed’ have to end up with ‘less speed’ as they are susceptible to act quickly with less diligence in such situations. The mania of ‘more speed’ cost them their lives, besides the lives of other people. ‘Over speed’ is a condition in which an engine is allowed or forced to turn beyond its design limit. This condition is susceptible to accidents, including fatal ones.

Overload also leads to accidents. The number of accidents related to overloading of vehicles was 687 in 2016 alone. Overloading is a practice very common among those in the business of transportation, be them carriers of passenger and goods. Drinking and driving never go well together. However, a section of drivers does not respect this statement. They are the ones who cost public lives and their own. In the 2016 as many as 444 cases were registered for drinking and driving related accidents.

Many drivers do not have their driving license. A license is also a proof that a person driving a vehicle is skilled enough for the job. In 2016 there were as many as 233 accidents that were directly related to driving without licenses.

Failure of recognizing traffic sigls by a section of drivers also leads to many accidents in Assam. This essentially means that not all those seen driving vehicles in the State are skilled for the job. In 2016 there were as many as 228 cases that were related to failure on the part of the drivers to recognize traffic sigls.

There are also colour blind drivers in the State who violate traffic sigls. Such people cannot distinguish various colours that are used as traffic sigls. In 2016 Assam witnessed as many as 65 accidents that were occurred because of the drivers being colour blind.

There were 2,408 cases of accidents for various reasons in 2016 in the State.

The total number of accidents occurred in Kamrup(M) 2016 was 1,042, followed by Kamrup with 556 accidents, Cachar with 512 and the lowest being Hamren district with three accidents in 2016. The highest number of accidents due to over speed occurred in 2016 in gaon district with 497 accidents. The highest number of accidents occurred due to overloading in 2016 was in Tinsukia with 137 accidents. Drink and driving led to 123 accidents in Golaghat district in 2016.