Two-wheeler drivers make up larger portion in road casualties figure

Kathmandu / Aug 16: Road safety issue is one of the major concerns regarding the traffic management system in the Kathmandu Valley. A noticeable number of people lost their lives to road accidents in the Valley last fiscal year while 111 were killed alone in accidents involving motorcycles and scooters.

As stated by the Metropolitan Traffic Division Office, in the period, 194 people– 147 men and 47 women–were killed in the accidents.

Over-speed remains as one of the key factors contributing to the increasing number of road fatalities. The driver finds it very difficult to control over-speeding vehicle in case sudden braking is required, Division chief and Senior Superintendent of Police Basanta Kumar Panta said.

Pedestrians too are not safe in the valley roads and the number of pedestrians killed in the accident in this period was 63. Four people died in accidents involving trucks, three involving bicycles, eight involving bus, one involving tempo and four in car accidents.

The total fatalities caused by road accident in the previous fiscal year (2073-74 BS) was 182 and the number of pedestrians was 79. Bearing this in mind, the metropolitan traffic police last fiscal year came up with a special campaign about road safety targeting pedestrians. Due to this, the number of fatalities related to pedestrians relatively decreased last fiscal.

The valley recorded a total of 11,507 road accidents last fiscal involving trucks, buses, micro buses, cars, vans, jeeps , motorcycles, scooters and tempos. RSS