NT Reporter | Panaji
The state has recorded a 15 per cent drop in deaths of two-wheeler riders and pillion riders, and a 12 per cent overall decrease in road accident fatalities in the first ten months of this year compared to the same period last year.
According to road accident data from January to October, 123 riders and 25 pillion riders — a total of 148 persons — lost their lives, compared to 138 riders and 36 pillion riders (174) during the corresponding period last year.
Overall, 212 persons died in road accidents this year, as against 241 last year.
A senior police officer said several corrective and preventive measures have been undertaken to enhance public safety. Awareness programmes on road safety are regularly conducted by staff of police stations and traffic cells in schools, colleges, and other public places.
Police personnel are deployed at strategic locations and accident-prone areas to monitor, check, and regulate vehicular movement. Special drives are also carried out to curb traffic violations, said police officials.
During a special drive held by the Goa Traffic Police from October 28 to November 4, a total of 1,417 traffic violations were booked. Most of the offences were related to riding without helmets. These included 147 cases of overspeeding, 29 involving modified silencers, 626 cases of helmetless riding, and 49 cases of drunken driving or riding.
The officer said that authorities have conducted inspections across the state to assess accident-prone areas and identified 30 black spots and 13 accident-prone zones for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024. The findings have been forwarded to the Public Works Department (PWD) for necessary
rectification.
In Panaji city, two of the identified accident-prone zones are a 500-metre stretch from the KTC bus stand to the old sessions court building, and another 500-metre stretch from Bal Ganesh, Campal, to the Directorate of Health Services.
