Spurt in mishaps over weekends in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Hyderabad roads are not really busy on weekends, but they are not innocuous either. Road accidents peak on weekends, accounting for as much as 46 per cent of the total accidents, while Saturday and Sunday account for as much as 33 per cent of total accidents.

Road accidents have been one of the major causes of deaths in the country with as many as 15,000 deaths. Fatal accidents in Hyderabad continue, though, it has come down in recent years. However, the numbers are still high with as many as 852 accidents occurring in the first four months of this year.

More than a hundred persons have died in these accidents, while more than 800 persons have been injured. Weekends, however, have been the bloody days accounting for as much as half of all the accidents. Saturday and Sunday alone witnessed nearly one- third of the accidents this year.

Senior police officials said since the roads are relatively traffic- free  on weekends, people drive fast and  in a rash manner.

“It’s a twin problem for us. On normal days, we have to deal with traffic and on Saturdays and Sundays it’s the problem of accidents. Traffic is less on these days and there are fewer traffic police personnel monitor the situation as well so some people drive rashly,” a senior traffic police official said.

“Especially on Sundays, fewer personnel are on the roads so there is nobody to control rash driving,” the official added.
However, the police rarely books cases for rash and negligent driving. Such cases are not booked unless an accident occurs refusing to pre-empt a situation.