Deadlier road mishaps

It is unfortunate that Jammu and Kashmir is struggling to combat terrorism despite all out efforts of the government and the security agencies as just a day before another precious life has been consumed by this scourge during an encounter in Udhampur District. What is more intriguing is the fact that the number of deaths in road mishaps seems to be far higher than those caused by terrorism despite this factor being avoidable.

Reportedly, figures presented in the Parliament show that J&K continues to grapple with a persistently high rate of road crashes, with over-speeding emerging as the single largest contributor to both accidents and deaths.

The Union Territory has recorded a disturbing 28,510 road accidents and 4,031 fatalities over the last five years which simply conveys that this issue also needs the focus of helmsmen because all the lives lost in these accidents could have been saved had the commuters shown a little respect to the traffic laws and held the steering of their vehicles responsibly. The data about accidents on roads and deaths is startling because the number of road accidents rose from 4,860 in 2020 to 5,452 in 2021 and further to 6,092 in 2022. Accidents peaked at 6,298 in 2023 before declining slightly to 5,808 in 2024. Fatalities followed a similar upward trend, increasing from 728 in 2020 to 774 in 2021 and 805 in 2022, before touching a five-year high of 893 in 2023. In 2024, the death toll dipped marginally to 831.

Sadly, as discussed before, all these deaths were avoidable because sensible driving could have saved these lives but unfortunately in J&K number of people driving recklessly seems to be far higher as could be gauged from the figures tabled in parliament.  Over-speeding accounted for the overwhelming majority of these incidents. The Union Territory recorded 4,821 over-speeding-related crashes in 2020, rising to 5,351 in 2021 and 5,990 in 2022. Though such cases dipped to 5,666 in 2023 and 5,367 in 2024, the impact remained severe.

Over the five years, 27,195 accidents and 3,956 deaths were attributed to over-speeding, making it the dominant cause of road fatalities in J&K. The data also highlights persistent non-compliance with basic road safety norms. Deaths due to non-use of helmets stood at 63 each in 2020 and 2021, rose to 84 by 2023, and declined to 72 in 2024, accounting for 290 fatalities over five years.

Similarly, failure to wear seat belts resulted in 804 deaths between 2020 and 2024, with annual figures ranging from 96 to 117. Besides, unlicensed driving remains another major concern. Between 2020 and 2024, J&K recorded 460 accidents involving drivers without valid licenses, with cases rising from 91 in 2020 to a peak of 126 in 2022.

One can say that containing terrorism is not in the hands 0f common man but decreasing deaths in road mishaps surely is in the hands of people and they should do everything possible to prevent all avoidable road accidents to contain fatalities.