VIJAYAWADA: Out of the 174 accident black spots in Krishna district, 124 have been identified in Vijayawada city alone. This was found out in a ground-level inspection carried out by the district road safety committee, which also observed that overspeeding and failing to adhere to traffic guidelines are the major reasons for accidents.
Speaking to TNIE on Tuesday, deputy transport commissioner (DTC) M Purendra said around 20 lakh vehicles ply on national and state highways passing through the district. “Recently, a committee, comprising officials from police, transport, R&B and panchayat raj departments, conducted a ground-level inspection and identified 174 black spots in the district. Of them, 124 are in Vijayawada alone; 50 of them are considered severe black spots as accidents are frequently reported there,” Purendra observed.
The committee has suggested measures such as road widening at the identified stretches and installing more speed breakers to reduce the accident rate. It found 55 black spots on Chennai-Kolkata Highway (NH-16) stretch passing through Vijayawada, 30 on Machilipatnam-Hyderabad Highway (NH-65), six on Ibrahimpatnam-Jagdalpur Highway (NH-30) and four on State Highway-236.
When it comes to Vijayawada zone, most accidents are reported in Ibrahimpatnam, Bhavanipuram, Krishna Lanka, Patamata, Penamaluru, Kankipadu, Vuyyuru, Pamidimukkala, Machavaram, Gannavaram and Atkuru. Nuzvid, Nandigama and Gudivada zone are the most accident-prone areas in rural parts of the district, Purendra added.
According to information provided by RTA officials, Vijayawada reported 1,499 accident cases in 2019 and 1,663 in 2018. While 355 victims died in the road accidents in the city, 1,442 sustained injuries. A total of 24,620 people were injured in the mishaps in the district.