2018: On an average one person killed every day in Goa road accidents in tourist months

Panaji: An average of one person died per day in road accidents in Goa during the tourist months of January, February, March and December in 2018. This was revealed in the Road Accidents in India report recently released by the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH).

Among these months, February saw the highest number of accidents with 346 cases reported and 28 deaths taking the toll to exactly one death per day in that month.

December, which is a time of prime festivities and tourist influx saw 343 accidents and 25 lives claimed.

March was the deadliest month with a total of 30 fatalities. The least number of accidents and fatalities were reported in August and July.

“Most accidents take place due to rash and negligent or dangerous driving on the part of the driver. Automatically, when the volume of traffic increases during these months (December, January, February, March), the ratio of accidents also increases,” North Goa DySP traffic Dharmesh Angle said.

During these months there is more inflow of vehicles from neighbouring states in addition to the rent-a-bikes, taxis and private vehicles operational in the state.

“In most congested areas, we organise one-way systems to ensure that the traffic flows smoothly. In addition to this, maximum staff is posted on the roads during the day. It is a time of festivities like the International Film Festival of India (Iffi) in Panaji, the feast of St Francis Xavier at Old Goa, New Year festivities at Baga or Calangute,” Angle said.

Road safety activists in the state insisted that it is the responsibility of the state’s lead agency to monitor the situation and ensure that road accident death numbers decrease. The lead agency consists of representatives from the department of transport, traffic cell, PWD, department of health services (DHS) and the department of education.

“During these peak tourist months, there is a big contingent of riders and drivers who visit from outside Goa so warning and traffic signages must be increased by the traffic cell and transport department. Also, road engineering must be done by the PWD to fix the black spots,” road safety activist Roland Martins said.

He further said that alcohol is high on the agenda of tourists that visit Goa, while migrants are often left out of awareness campaigns.

“The tourism department will have to conduct a vociferous campaign to discourage driving under the influence of alcohol through tour operators and bike and car rentals and taxi operators,” he said.

“We must consider the fact that migrants in the state are rarely reached out to. The DHS and education department needs to extend awareness to the migrant community at the grassroots level by communicating road safety awareness in their language,” he added.