Amresh Parab
Panaji
Goa witnessed a 10% surge in road accidents during the first six months of this year, recording 1,324 mishaps compared to 1,196 in the corresponding period in 2025.
Despite the overall rise, over 58% (775 cases) were non-injury accidents where only vehicles suffered damage. However, the state recorded 136 fatal accidents that claimed 142 lives, while 125 accidents left 162 persons grievously injured, and another 289 accidents resulted in minor injuries to 477 individuals.
Two-wheeler riders continued to bear the brunt of road fatalities. Of the 142 people killed this year, 86 were riders and 17 were pillion riders, followed by 18 pedestrians, 10 drivers, seven passengers, two cyclists and two others. This mirrors trends from the same period in 2025, which saw 141 fatalities across 138 fatal accidents – claiming the lives of 83 riders, 30 pedestrians, 16 pillion riders, five drivers, four passengers and three others.
Additionally, the first half of 2025 recorded 109 accidents with 132 grievous injuries, 236 minor injury accidents affecting 388 people and 713 non-injury accidents.
Police attribute the primary causes of these accidents to rash and negligent driving, alongside poor road conditions. To curb fatalities, authorities have stepped up enforcement through targeted drives against drunk driving, helmetless riding, speeding and driving without a licence, alongside prioritising quality prosecution to directly reduce road mishaps.
As part of these enforcement efforts, the Goa Traffic Police recommended 11,731 driving licences for suspension between January and June this year. More than 73% of these recommendations (8,671 cases) involved riders penalised for not wearing helmets. Other offences triggering suspension recommendations included drunk driving (1,280), mobile phone usage while driving (867), carrying excess pillion riders (641), carrying passengers in goods vehicles (146), over-speeding (112) and red-light jumping (14).
Upon receiving these recommendations from the police, the transport department issues show-cause notices to violators before suspending licences for a minimum of three months.
