Mumbai city has seen a drop in the number of road accidents in 2022. The data from the Mumbai Traffic Police, starting from the year 2017 to February 2023 sheds some light on the fluctuating numbers of road accidents occurring every year.
In the year 2017, the number of road accidents was at an all-time high with 3,070 cases, which fell down by one digit in the year 2018 with 3,069 cases. Falling even further down, the year 2019 and 2021 saw a smaller number of road accidents with 2,756 and 2,061 cases. In 2020, which was the year of complete lockdown owing to the Covid-19, the number of road accidents dropped even further to 1,727, which again shot up to 1,738 in the year 2022, which is the year when the majority of the city started resuming after the lockdown period.
Till January city witnessed 46 road mishaps and accidents
In this new year of 2023, till January, the city has witnessed 46 road mishaps and accidents. The data also suggest that Mumbai Traffic Police has penalised more Mumbaikars for obstruction of the free flow of traffic and jumping signals in the year 2022 than in 2021. A whopping 12,94,433 cases were registered against people for causing obstruction of the free flow of traffic in the year 2022, which is very much higher than in 2021 which had 9,56,955 cases.
The cases for jumping signals have also subsequently jumped from 3,41,930 to 3,78,990. For carrying excess passengers over the provided limit, 48,385 vehicles were penalized in 2021, which jumped to 78,921 in the following year.
Meanwhile, mentioning the situation across the state, the numbers as per the statistics by the Maharashtra Highway Police, say a rise in fatal deaths caused due to accidents on road.
As per the Maharashtra Highway Police, in the year 2021, more than 13,528 people died compared to 11,569 in the year 2020 and 12,788 in 2019. However, the total number of accidents across the state has slightly come down from 32,925 in 2019 to 29,493 in the year 2021.
Worli citizens demands action against drunk driving
One of the acquaintances of the deceased victim of the Worli accident of Sunday morning revealed that they have been mentioning the rash driving and drunk driving situation at Worli, NCPA and Girgaon Chowpatty area that they witness during their jogging sessions, especially during the weekends to the Mumbai traffic cops and on-duty police officers but they are yet to get any concrete solution.
“We keep telling them that someday something big will happen and all we could do is say or feel sorry. There are so many youngsters who drive irresponsibly, possibly harming themselves and others. The police are monitoring but unless something stringent action is taken, we cannot change the situation. We have lost a loved one today, it will be someone else tomorrow,” he said.
