Kottayam: Many lives are lost on the roads in Kerala. A survey had revealed that there are over 300 accident black spots in the State. Now, the Public Works Department has decided to ban contractors if potholes are found on roads where accidents are frequent.
Contractors who construct such roads would face a ban of minimum one year. The norm is being implemented in compliance with the Supreme Court direction regarding road safety.
A black spot is a 500-metre road stretch on which at least five accidents have taken place in the past three years, causing death or grievous injuries.
All roads in Kerala have been divided and entrusted with enforcement and road safety officials on the basis of black spots. These officials have been entrusted with the task of reducing the accidents on roads within their jurisdiction.
Action would also be taken against officials if there is no drop in number of accidents.
The percentage of reduction in road accidents would be noted down in the confidential report (CR) of the officials. In case if accidents and deaths are below 25 percent then there would be a special mention regarding this in their CR.
Danger zones
As per the latest statistics there are 340 black spots across the State. Of these, 232 have extremely high accident probability and 108 have accident probability.
There are 157 extremely high accident possibility black spots along the national highways passing through the State, 49 on the state highways and 26 on other roads.
In road safety management, a black spot is a place where road traffic accidents have historically been concentrated.
For more information on black spots, read Identification and Prioritization of Accident Black Spots in Kerala.
