Self-fall, pedestrians caused 56% of Chennai road fatalities in 2022

CHENNAI: Of the 508 people who died in road mishaps in Chennai in the year 2022 as many as 108 (nearly 20 per cent) had died after the motorists, majority of them bikers, fell accidentally without colliding with any other vehicles, data showed.

Chennai city traffic police described this as fatalities due to 'self-fall'. "There are no other vehicles involved in these accident. The drivers of the vehicles lost control and fell on the road and died due to injuries," a senior traffic police official noted.

Another major contribution for fatality on the road is pedestrians. As many as 179 pedestrians (over 35 per cent) were killed on the road in Chennai during the year 2022.

Interestingly, pedestrians and self-falls contribute a total of 288 deaths on the city roads, which is 56 per cent of the total fatalities, the official noted. Of the 179 pedestrians killed, 30 of them are victims of hit and run cases. If the pedestrians are more careful these kinds of accidents could have been averted, noted Kapil Kumar Sarathkar, additional commissioner of police, Chennai traffic police.

"It is not always the responsibility of the police to make the road accident free. Motorists and pedestrians too have a lot to contribute to it. More careful Motorists and other road users make the job of police easier," he noted.

As many as 50 people were killed on Chennai road after being hit by unknown vehicles. Of this, 15 of the victims were motorcycle riders.

Accidents caused by motorcycle riders have killed 241 people. Out of the 241, as many as 79 are pedestrians.

MTC has killed as many as 27 road users, including 12 pedestrians, in the year 2022. Similarly, vans have caused the death of 13 pedestrians in the city. Interestingly pedestrians have also caused two fatalities on the road.