Hyderabad: Spotlight on pedestrian safety

Scores of families are robbed of their loved ones in road accidents and statistics point out that pedestrians are most vulnerable

Hyderabad: A mother and daughter out on a morning walk were mowed down by a rashly driven car, a civic body worker sweeping the city roads was hit by a car driven by a drunk driver, and a speeding bus runs over a pedestrian. Scores of families are robbed of their loved ones in road accidents and statistics point out that pedestrians are most vulnerable.

Concerns over pedestrian safety have been a part of traffic governance for quite some time now but despite various measures, lives continue to be lost on the city roads.

---

According to Hyderabad City Police Annual Report 2022, the year recorded a total of 691 pedestrian road accidents, of which 109 fall under Section 304 (a) – causing death by negligence. A total of 110 pedestrians were killed in road accidents in 2022 compared to 95 deaths recorded in 2021.

Every day, around 1,300 more vehicles are registered with the Transport Department. With this, it comes as no surprise that there is little room for pedestrian activity. The illegal occupation of footpaths and the lack of awareness about road safety rules also add to the problem.

Make use of available infrastructure

Urging pedestrians to make maximum use of road infrastructure, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) G Sudheer Babu says that correct utilisation of pelican signals and foot over bridges will minimise the number of fatalities. Emphasizing the multiple alternatives to crossing roads haphazardly, he says that one can also use the metro stations. “There are so many metro stations with lifts and escalators in the city now.

One can use them to cross the roads.” Wrong-side driving is also one of the reasons for pedestrian accidents and Sudheer Babu says around 3,96,000 challans were processed for wrong-side driving. “We are also taking extra care to make sure vehicles don’t jump the stop line, as that is also another cause for pedestrian accidents,” he adds.