New Delhi: Analysis on the nature of accident or collision types of aggregate national level road accidents in 2021 showed that ‘Hit from Back’ (21.2 per cent) accounted for the largest share in total road accidents and total number of persons killed (18.6 per cent) during the year, as per a government road.
A ‘hit from the back’, or a rear-end collision, occurs when a vehicle crashes into the one in front of it.
Common factors contributing to such acidents include the driver’s lack of attention or distraction, tailgating (back to back) at junctions, panic stops and reduced traction due to wet weather or worn pavement, said the ‘Road accidents in 2021’ report.
It was followed by ‘Head-on Collision’ (18.5 per cent of total road accidents and 17.7 per cent of the total persons killed in road accidents).
As per the report, the country witnessed a total 4,12,432 road accidents in 2021 and there were 87,368 incidents under ‘Hit from Back’ category in which 28,712 persons were killed.
Similarly, there were 76,304 incidents in the category of ‘Head-on Collisions’ in which total 27,248 persons were killed.
Head-on collisions are known to occur on roads with narrow lanes, sharp curves, unseparated lanes for two-way traffic, as well as busy stretches. Normally, the roads with the greatest risk of head-on collision are busy single-carriageway roads outside urban areas where speeds are highest. The greatest risk reduction in terms of head-on collision comes through the insertion of a median separation, said the report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The other major types of collision which caused death are ‘hit & run’ (16.8 per cent), and ‘hit from side’ (11.9 per cent).
The Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019 provides for enhanced rates of Rs 2,00,000 on the death of a victim in ‘Hit and Run’ as against Rs 25,000 earlier.
Other categories like ‘Run off the Road’ could happen due to loss of control by the driver due to excessive or inappropriate speed, distraction, misjudging a curve, or attempting to avoid collision with another road user or an animal.
(IANS)
