27 bikers among 37 killed on Nashik roads in 2 months

NASHIK: As many as 37 people have lost their lives in road accidents during the first two months this year, six more than the number of deaths reported during the corresponding period last year.
The roads continue to take lives despite continuous efforts of police to bring down the fatalities and curb the menace of rash driving. The rise in number of deaths caused due to road accidents is a huge cause of concerns for everyone in the city, especially police.
According to police records, the 37 road deaths that took place this year, were caused by 35 fatal accidents. While 22 people were killed in the month of January, 15 were killed in February. Last year, 16 people were killed in January and 15 in February. Police officials said that among the deceased, 27 were riding on two-wheelers.
Police said that other 51 bikers have escaped with grievous or minor injuries so far this year. Police also added that only six bikers of the 27 were wearing helmets.
Senior officials of the city traffic branch said that they have been taking every possible measure to bring down the number of road fatalities in Nashik city. Over the past three to four years, police have been conducting massive awareness campaign, appealing to people to wear helmets, seat belts while driving.
At the same time, police, in co-ordination with the Nashik Municipal Corporation, have also been setting up road signals, speed breakers, signboards etc in different parts of the city.
A senior police officer said that rash driving was among the main reason that was leading to high number of road fatalities in the city. Police said that they were taking various drives against errant motorists. Over the past two months, police have penalised as many as 32,580 motorists. A fine of over Rs 76 lakh was collected from them.
“The action is continuous, we expect that people follow basic traffic rules like not indulging in rash driving, wrong-side driving, obey signals, give way for pedestrians, wear safety gears like seat belt or helmet, etc,” said the officer.