Thiruvananthapuram: Roads in Kerala draw blood literally. The southern state notorious for narrow, winding and uneven roads has the fourth-highest number of road accidents in the country as per the figures for 2019. Sparsely lit rural roads are accounting for many accidents in Kerala, according to a recent report of the Motor Vehicles Department.
The department has included this information in its action plan prepared after evaluating all accidents till 2019.
In 2019, as many as 4,440 people died in road accidents in the state. Of this 1,244 persons lost their lives in 12,798 accidents that took place in urban areas. On the other hand, 3,196 persons died in 28,313 accidents in rural areas.
According to the report, there has been a 3.2% increase in road accident deaths in Kerala in 2019. The state ranked 16th in road accident deaths. Until 2018, it was ranked 15th on this aspect.
Other findings
Most accidents in Kerala take place between 3 pm and 9 pm, though the period between 6 pm and 9 pm is the worst. Congestion on the roads, vision problems because of poor lighting, and fatigue among drivers after the day's work are major reasons for road accidents.
Of the total road accident fatalities in Kerala, 28 percent are pedestrians.
Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh are the states with a higher number of road accidents than in Kerala. According to a previous report of the Union Ministry of Transport, Kerala accounts for 9.2% of the total number of road accidents in the country. The situation worsened as the state had ranked fifth from 2015 to 2018.
