DCP says Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays most ‘accident prone’

Answering a question on the number of accidents in the city, DCP Awad said, “Accidents are one of the major challenges before us. In 2003, Pune city had over 13 lakh vehicles and there were 324 road accident deaths. In 2014 we had over 41 lakh vehicles and accident deaths were 399. We have done a study to understand the pattern of accidents and we have come across some crucial facts.”

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He added, “For example, maximum accidental deaths occur in the age group of 25 to 34 years. Of the total 399 deaths, 95 are in that group. The 35 to 44 group saw 62 deaths, 45 to 54 group 47 deaths and 55 to 64 age group saw 28 deaths. We must understand that this loss of earning age group is a great loss to the nation. These figures show that riders and drivers in the earning group need to be even more careful. Many of these accidents take place when people are on the way to the office or coming back.”

The study by traffic cops shows that three days of the week — Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays see more accident deaths than other days. In 2014, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays saw 62, 61 and 60 accidents respectively and Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays registered 50, 54, 46 and 45 accidents.

Awad said, “This may be because Friday evenings, and the following two off days, Saturdays and Sundays, are when chances of reckless driving are higher.”

Awad said, “In 2014, there were 214 deaths of bike riders. Of these, 213 were not wearing helmets. These results underline the importance of helmets. We do not want to make any claims of a 100 per cent safety with helmets. But it is beyond doubt that it increases chances of survival.”