Two people, including a 73-year-old woman, were killed in separate road accidents in Bengaluru on June 24 and 25. In the June 24 accident, a BMTC bus knocked the elderly woman Padmalatha, 73, down while she was crossing the road on Kengeri satellite town main road. The bus ran over her and crushed her legs. She was rushed to a private hospital where she succumbed to the injuries on June 26 evening.
In the June 25 accident, 55-year-old Krishnappa was killed after a speeding car knocked him down while he was crossing the road at the zebra crossing on Dr. Rajkumar road. The accident was captured on the CCTV camera which helped the Rajajinagar police to track down the driver.
The two accidents involving pedestrian deaths are among the six road accidents reported in the city on June 25. According to Alok Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Traffic and Road Safety, 33% of the total number of fatal accidents are pedestrians.
Concerned over the growing number of pedestrian deaths, the head of traffic and road safety, in association with the city traffic police, are preparing an annual plan to minimise the deaths.
Mr. Alok Kumar has proposed long-term, medium and short-term plans, which, according to him, should go side by side to reduce the number of pedestrian deaths.
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Pedestrian safety was not in the priority list and the deaths due to many reasons are alarming, he said . Mr. Alok Kumar said pedestrian deaths should be brought to the focus and improving the infrastructure, creating user-friendly pavements and improving the existing footpaths in the city are the utmost priorities of the plan. A detailed study on the pedestrians involved in accidents, including their background, age group and the nature of the accident will help the police to plan better. The plan of action also involves creating awareness in city as well as rural limits. The maximum number of pedestrian deaths involves two wheelers. Overspeeding of vehicles should be brought down to safe speed limits, he added.
Classification of pedestrian deaths based on the place of occurrrence
| Type of Occurrence | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| While crossing the road in place | 82 | 30 | 44 |
| At an unspecified place | 45 | 69 | 108 |
| Rushing around | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Drunk and rushing around | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| While lying on the footpath | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Sudden road crossing | 2 | 6 | 17 |
| While walking on the side of the road | 29 | 47 | 62 |
| Total | 164 | 161 | 247 |
According to statistics, a total 247 pedestrians were killed in the city in 2022 compared to 161 deaths reported in 2021. Though it can be analysed that the number of pedestrian movement reduced due to Covid restrictions, the analysis of each death revealed that the other factors leading to the death remain the same, Mr. Kumar said.
The study should be focused on the area, pattern and nature of the accident, which will help the traffic police to plan better to take up preventive measures. Lane discipline, overspeeding and road engineering and infrastructure are the reasons, he added.
Joint Commissioner of Police (traffic) M.N. Anucheth said that apart from investigating any road accidents, the jurisdictional police and the investigating officer will also study the cause of accidents and submit a report to their higher ups on preventive measures. The annual accident statistic reports will help the traffic department to plan better, he added.
M.N. Sreehari, advisor and expert, traffic, transportation and infrastructure, said that the traffic police are doing their bit, but the civic agencies should be more proactive in providing better infrastructure and roads. Maximum number of deaths occur due to bad roads and poor infrastructure and lack of coordination between different civic agencies, he pointed out.
