Over speeding is main cause of accidents in Pune

Speed thrills but it also kills! Over speeding is the main cause when it comes to road accidents in the city.

Statistics available with the traffic police shows that of  1,531 road accidents that took place last year, 413 accidents were caused due to over speeding. This means nearly 27% of total accidents have taken place due to over speeding.

Of 413 accidents caused due to over speeding, 150 accidents were fatal. The over speeding of vehicles has claimed lives of 163 people and have left 166 people seriously injured last year.

Even though speed is the main killer in road accidents, the Pune traffic police are ill-equipped to curb the speed of the vehicles in Pune. The statistics with the traffic police regarding the action taken against over speeding drivers shows that cases against over speeding drivers have gone down. In 2010, Pune traffic police took action against 353 vehicle users and collected fine of Rs79,500. However, in 2011, the traffic police took action against only 104 traffic violators and collected fine of Rs27,800.

According to traffic police officials, Pune traffic police need at least 20 speed guns but at present, they do not have a single speed gun. When deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Vishwas Pandhare was asked about the non availability of speed guns, he said, “We have requested the state home department to provide us speed guns and we are constantly pursuing the issue. Meanwhile, we are trying to curb the speed of vehicles on some roads by constructing speed breakers.’’