Mumbai tops the list in hit-and-run cases

Mumbai has topped the country’s metro cities in hit-and-run road accidents, revealed data released by the union ministry of road transport and highways on Tuesday evening.

According to the data that has been compiled till 2009 — the latest available data —Mumbai has recorded 1,980 hit-and-run accidents in 2009 and 1,360 in 2008.

Mumbai is being followed by Bengaluru with 1,211 hit-and-run cases in 2009 as against 1,354 cases in 2008. This is followed by Hyderabad with 700 cases in 2009 as compared to 703 cases in 2008.

Sources said the statistics have always been two years behind as they take time compiling and processing data from all states and analysing it.

While Maharashtra statistics show that there has been a marginal decline in the number of deaths and accidents in Mumbai, experts said it is a worrying that Mumbai still tops the list in hit-and-run.

“It is time to take a serious view of planning and traffic management. Seminars and talks and awareness stickers will not be of any help, there is a need to do something practical about the situation,’’ said a member of the city transport committee, requesting anonymity.

At the launching of the Road Safety Campaign on Monday, state transport officials said that while the number of vehicles has been increasing at an average rate of 10% every year, the number of accidents has been reducing since the past few years.