Rajasthan: 50139 killed in road accidents in 5 years

Road accidents have claimed 50,139 lives in Rajasthan in the past five years and 79,256 suffered critical injuries, the government said today.

The state registered 1,18,391 accidents -- 38,126 on city roads, 32,857 on national highways and 23,253 on state highways -- in the past five years, the home department said in the assembly in reply to a question put up by legislator Abhishek Matoria.

The number of people dying in road accidents has been on the rise since 2012, it said.

While 9,497 persons died in road accidents in 2012, the death toll increased to 10,482 in 2016.

Of the total 1,18,391 accidents in the past five years, challans were issued in 1,01,907 cases.

The department said that a slew of measures has been taken by the government in last few years to raise awareness on road safety and defaulters were penalised for not following road safety rules.

Helmet was made compulsory for bikers and pillion riders in October 2015.

In 2016 a total of 4,54,046 motorists were challaned for not wearing helmet, whereas 61,126 were penalised for drunken driving.

The year 2017-18 has been announced as the road safety and public awareness year during which various activities will be taken up for sensitising people, it said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)