The city roads may be narrow, congested and riddled with potholes, but they do not kill. According to the date recently released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for the year 2014, Madurai roads are much safer for commuters compared to other cities like Chennai, Coimbatore and Trichy.
Deaths due to negligence and rash driving in Madurai city roads are less here. The rate of death in Madurai was 7.1, which is small compared to 12.5 in Chennai, 13 in Coimbatore and 16.5 in Trichy, which is the highest in the state.
The rate is calculated by the number of deaths per a population of one lakh. In 2014, 104 people lost their lives on Madurai city roads in accidents involving negligent and rash driving, while 1183 people in Chennai, 289 people in Coimbatore and 180 people in Trichy lost their lives due to the same reason.
Similarly, 585 people were injured due to negligent and rash driving in Madurai city, which is far lower than 8,527 people in Chennai, 1.465 in Coimbatore and 541 in Trichy. In terms of incident rate, this came to 40, 98.1, 61.1 and 52.9 respectively.
Regional transport officer (Madurai Central) J K Baskaran said in a city like Chennai, large number of pedestrians could be found during the peak hours, which was not the case in Madurai. In core city areas, pedestrians often fall prey to accidents due to negligent and rash driving.
“City police have been making commendable efforts to regulate the vehicles. Many roads have been made into one-ways, which made road travel in the core city areas safe. Moreover, most of the drivers here are cautious,” he said.
A Narasimmamani of Driving Needs Academy, an NGO which sensitizes people on road safety, said the city did not have many long straight roads where people could drive rashly. Most of the roads here are narrow, where people can only drive slowly and cautiously. Most of the long roads are present in the rural parts of the district.
“Moreover, the superbike culture is yet to pick up here. Not a lot of people in Madurai have powerful bikes,” he said.
Date: August 24, 2015