Jammu & Kashmir: As discussions intensify over new 'hit and run' legislation, Jammu and Kashmir witness a surge in road accidents, claiming over 700 lives annually since 2018. More than half of these accidents involve drivers fleeing the scene, averaging 15-20 daily incidents across the region.

Challenges in the hilly terrains further exacerbate the situation, with one tragic incident in November becoming the deadliest of the year. In Doda district, 39 people lost their lives and 17 were injured when a passenger bus veered off a mountain road, plummeting 300 feet down a hill onto another road. In response, the J&K Government pledged measures to prevent such accidents, emphasizing a crackdown on traffic violators.

5309 road accidents in 10 months of 2023; 714 killed, 7087 injured

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 5309 road accidents in which 714 persons have lost their lives while 7087 have been injured in first ten months of the year 2023. Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed 28178 road accidents in last five years, in which 5001 persons have been killed while 36615 have been injured, the data is from year 2018- 2022. In year 2018, 5978 road accidents have claimed lives of 984 and injured 7845 others. In 2019, 5796 accidents have been reported in which 996 lives were lost and 7532 injured. 728 were killed while 5894 were injured in 4860 accidents in year 2020; 5452 accidents were reported in 2021 in which 774 lost lives and 6972 got injured. In 2022, 6092 road incidents have been reported in which 805 were killed and 8372 have been injured.

Traffic wing intensified crackdown; over 12 lakh challans issued

Traffic Police has issued over 12 lakh challans against traffic violators in first eleven months of 2023 across Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. "A total of 12,52,536 challans have been issued against the violators; 860104 challans have been issued as court challans while 392432 have been issued as compound challans. We have been issuing challans to curb the road accidents and encouraging people to follow traffic rules," said Traffic Wing official.