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Call for measures to curb road deaths

Seven people die on the road every day in different parts of the country, making road accidents one of the top 10 killers in Nepal. Call for measures to curb road deaths

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Published at : January 23, 2018

Updated at : January 23, 2018 09:34

Kathmandu

Seven people die on the road every day in different parts of the country, making road accidents one of the top 10 killers in Nepal.

In 2005, road fatality was the ninth major killer in the country, which rose to the eighth position, with an increase of 6.7 percent between 2005 and 2016, according to the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The number of deaths in road accidents has been on the rise in the past three years with a massive 19 percent spike in the fiscal year 2016-17. Last year, 2,384 people lost their lives on the road, which was 2,004 deaths in FY 2014-15 and 2,006 in FY 2015-16.

Overlooking road safety issues for vehicles, pedestrians and public in general while constructing roads, negligence on the part of drivers and lack of compliance with traffic rules have been blamed for the fatalities.

The number of such accidents is likely to rise in the years to come, claiming lives and causing injuries in increasing numbers, if the country fails to adopt road safety measures at the earliest, stakeholders warned at the National Conference on Road Safety. The two-day event concluded on Monday.

“At this rate, we have lost more lives to road accidents in a decade than the number of people killed during the armed conflict,” said Engineer Kishor Kumar Jha, executive president of the Nepal Integrated Research and Development Foundation.

While developed countries have curbed accidents drastically, road safety experts pointed out, it was appalling to see the number of road kills go up in Nepal.

This will make it difficult for the country to halve the number of deaths and injuries from road accidents by 2020, as targeted by the Sustainable Development Goals.

More than 80 percent deaths and injuries globally have been reported from low and middle income countries as nearly 1.25 million people died from road traffic injuries in 2013, according to the World Health Organisation.

Sharing the international practice of road safety, Tana Tan, a road and transport safety consultant based in Australia, said, “Moving towards Vision Zero requires safer vehicles, safer speed, safer road and safer users. Roads should be designed considering most vulnerable users like motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.” Vision Zero is the Swedish approach to road safety thinking that no loss of life is acceptable.

Participants at the event jointly organised by different government agencies, Nepal Engineers’ Association and Non-Resident Nepali Association also said that the existing road infrastructure was not friendly for differently-abled people.

“There is no path for people in wheelchair and visually impaired. Users have to forcefully roll their wheelchair like a marathon every day,” Amrita Gyawali of the Road Safety Society Nepal said.

Experts also called for revision to the driving licence regime, setting different criteria for professional drivers, raising traffic awareness right from the school level and effecting behavioural attitudinal changes among drivers for making roads safer.

DIG Sarbendra Khanal, chief of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, said drivers alone cannot be blamed for road accidents: unsafe roads kill too.

“Reckless driving can be a factor, but we should also look into other causes of road accidents,” said Khanal. “Concerned agencies might have their constraints but I don’t think huge resources are required for improving roads and saving lives.”

Road kill

In 2005, road fatality was the ninth major killer in the country, which rose to the eighth position in 2016
Last year, 2,384 people lost their lives on the road, which was 2,004 deaths in FY 2014-15 and 2,006 in FY 2015-16
Nepal has lost more lives to road accidents in a decade than the number of people killed during the armed conflict, says expert
Experts also call for revision to the driving licence regime

Four dead in Salyan bus accident

BIPLAB MAHARJAN

SALYAN, JAN 22

Four persons died and 38 others were injured, some critically, in a bus accident at Bhantakhola in Triveni Rural Municipality, Salyan, on Monday.

The passenger bus (Na 5 Kha 531) swerved off the road and plunged about 150 metres. The vehicle was on its way to Ghorahi of Dang from Rukum carrying more than 40 passengers, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Chhantari BK of Bagchau Municipality-10 in Salyan, Pushpa Khadka of Musikot Municipality in Rukum, and Khim Bahadur Khadka of Peugha in Rukum. Identity of the other deceased is yet to be ascertained, said police.

Personnel from Nepal Army and Nepal Police had reached the site immediately and rescued the victims with the help of local people. Fourteen seriously injured passengers have been referred to Nepalgunj while the others returned home after primary care at the Kantipur Community Hospital in Shreenagar.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Bharat Bahadur BK said the accident was caused by a suspension failure. Area Police Office in Luham has detained the driver for investigation.

Meanwhile, a mini-truck met with an accident at Belkotgadhi Municipality-11 on the Pasang Lhamu Highway in Nuwakot district on Monday, killing one person and injuring three others. Police identified the deceased as Aashish Tamang, 17, of Belkotgadhi-13. Tamang was the driver’s assistant on the Trishuli-bound vehicle (Na 1 Ka 5375). The injured were taken to Kathmandu for treatment.