File picture of vehicles damaged in a road accident that took place recently at Shiripur Square in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, May 11: Riders beware. Road accidents have shown a rising trend in the last four years. Available data shows that the number of accident related deaths in the state has risen from 3,000 in 2007 to 3,773 in 2010. The numbers of casualties were 3,079 and 3,527 in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Around 44,000 people were injured in accidents during these four years.

Significantly, 73 per cent of people killed in road accidents during 2010 were below the age of 44. Statistics also show that the total number of accidents reported in 2007 was 8,213, while it was 8,181 in 2008, 8,887 in 2009 and 9,395 in 2010. The figures were released at a state-level workshop organised by the Orissa Road Safety Society.

Expressing concern over the rise in road accidents, state commerce and transport minister Sanjiv Sahoo said: “We had called up all the stakeholders here to discuss why traffic accidents are rising in the state and how this can be minimised.”

Transport and police officers and representatives of truck and bus owners’ associations were present to discuss the issue.

Transport office sources said that majority of the accidents took place on national highways, with 47 per cent of them on roads that are merely two per cent of the total road length of the state.

Additional commissioner of transport (technical) S.K. Mohapatra said national highways, which were broader than the state highways and most other roads, prompted drivers to speed. This led to more accidents. He said 47 per cent of the total road accidents that occurred during last year were on various national highways, 27 per cent on state highways and 26 per cent on other roads.

More accident related deaths occurred on national highways. He further said: “Death rates are comparatively lower on state highways and other roads.” He also said that more accidents, as well as deaths, had taken place in rural areas. The officials said that lack of awareness among rural people regarding road safety rules led to increased accidents in those areas. Lack of quick and proper medical treatment was another reason for more lives being lost in these areas, he observed.

Additional commissioner of police Ritu Arora said better traffic management would lead to road safety. She said the city police was conducting raids at various traffic junctions to enforce traffic rules.

They were also carrying out awareness programmes in the city on road safety related issues. General secretary of Orissa State Truck Owners’ Federation Rabi Satpathy said the government should take steps to check overloading of goods carriers and over crowding in passengers vehicles to minimise the number of accidents and deaths. Sources said the United Nations had declared 2011-2020 as the decade of action for road safety. The UN also aims to reduce road accidents across the globe by 50 per cent by the end of this decade.