Road accidents jump to pre-pandemic levels in TN

According to the Road Accident Analysis in Tamil Nadu – September 2020 by the Transport Department, number of road accident fatalities which remained low compared to the corresponding months last year, went up in September with 858 deaths compared to last year’s 850. 

During September 2020, 4,577 accidents were witnessed in the State with 805 fatal ones, resulting in 858 fatalities. In comparison, 4,626 accidents were recorded in September 2019 in which 794 fatal accidents caused 850 casualties. 

The increase in fatal accidents in September this year was the first such instance since January 2020. The number of fatal accidents came down to 113 and 119 in April this year respectively considering the COVID-19 lockdown. As restrictions were relaxed, fatalities started climbing up to 472 in May, 509 in June, 622 (July), 800 (August) and 858 (September). A total of 31,098 road accidents have been reported by the State in the calendar year 2020 (up to September), claiming 5,493 lives and causing injuries to 34,691 people. Accidental deaths have reduced to around 33 per cent till September 2020 and total number of accidents decreased by 29 per cent compared the previous year 2019 (up to September). 

Chennai topped the State in the total number of accidents and fatalities with 2,999 accidents and 607 fatalities up to September this year followed by Cuddalore with 1,752 accidents and 305 deaths. Four districts – Erode, The Nilgiris, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur witnessed an increasing trend in fatalities compared to the corresponding period last year despite the number of accidents witnessing a declining trend. 

A senior official of the Transport Department said that the fewer number of road accidents and fatalities up to September this year was owing to the lockdown imposed to coronavirus spread. “Strict enforcement of road safety measures and traffic rules helped bring down the accidents and fatalities,” the official added.