A man speaks on his mobile phone while riding a motorcycle in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 6: Odisha has achieved the dubious distinction of recording the third highest number of casualties caused by talking on the phone while driving in India.
According to a report released by the Union ministry of road transport and highways, Uttar Pradesh topped the chart among all states and Union territories with 874 fatalities caused by the use of mobile phones while driving for the year 2016, followed by Haryana in second place with 275 deaths. Odisha comes third with 172 deaths, the report said.
According to the report, as many as 411 road accidents took place in Odisha last year due to the use of mobile phones while driving, the fourth highest in the country. Uttar Pradesh topped the chart with 1,595 mishaps, while Tamil Nadu and Haryana are placed second and third with 827 and 461 accidents, respectively.
Nineteen passengers were killed in a tragic accident at Athamallik in Angul district in September 2016 when a bus fell off a bridge.
The transport department later discovered that the driver of the bus was taking on his mobile phone when the accident occurred.
Transport commissioner Madhu Sudan Padhi said the department had started penalising drivers using mobile phones while driving.
'Enforcement related to the use of mobile phones would be intensified. We have also asked the drivers of public transport vehicles to refrain from using mobile phones while driving,' said Padhi.
The report also revealed that number of mishaps caused by alcohol was on the rise. In all, 972 mishaps took place in the state in 2015 for driving under the influence of alcohol. That number jumped to 1,255 last year. The number of fatalities as a result also increased to 531 in 2016 against 427 in 2015.
The report also revealed a minor increase in the overall deaths caused by road mishaps compared to 2015. While 4,303 people had died in 10,542 road mishaps in 2015, the number rose to 4,463 deaths in 10,532 mishaps in 2016,.
In August, the state government made the use of helmet mandatory for riders and pillions in motorcycles. On August 24, it enforced the already-existing provision under the Motor Vehicles Act and mandated state police to take action against errant motorcycle riders.
