Vijayawada: The AP government had identified 1,013 black spots and as part of taking measures to prevent road accidents rectified 925 of them. During 2017, AP stood in third in accident rates. According to National Highway Authority of India, AP witnessed 30,045 road accidents with 8,012 deaths, which accounted for 7.52 per cent of the mishaps in the country.
The State Road Safety Authority, which identified 1,013 black spots, accelerated the rectification works. Of these 925 had been completed. It got 10 per cent assistance from the Union government under the Central Road Fund to undertake the works. Black spots were locations on roads that had a record number of accidents. There were often common problems at sites which could be cleared through engineering methods. And these inclu-ded converting unsigna-lised cross intersections to roundabouts, new or revised traffic signals, grade separation, staggered cross intersections, extension of median through intersections and provision of protected right turn facilities.
Forty per cent of the accidents in the state were the result of speeding, 20 due to drunk driving and 18 as a result of negligent driving. The rest were caused due to driving without rest and technical failures.
Road safety officials had identified the black spots causing fatal accidents and geotagged the places. Across the state, of the 1,013 spots identified, East Godavari had the highest of 191 as it had the longest National Highway route. The least black spots were in Anantapur with 28. Guntur had 150, West Godavari 139, Visakhap-atnam 107, Kadapa 78, Chittoor 69, Kurnool 58, Srikakulam 55, Viziana-garam 40 and Krishna 36.
In the backdrop of rising fatal road accidents, the state government was giving priority to road safety. Transport, Roads and Buildings in charge secretary and special chief secretary Anil Chandra said the government was serious about these road accidents costing many lives and conducted a scientific study.
