Road accidents in Valley down by 16%

Kathmandu / July 27: At a time when the road accidents and fatalities occurred in different parts of the country have alarmed the people and policymakers alike of late, the Kathmandu Valley witnessed decline in the road incidents in the recent years.

According to the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, the number of accidents has decreased by 16.8 per cent and the number of human fatalities has come down by 6 per cent compared to the previous fiscal year.

Office’s Spokesperson SP Bishwaraj Khadka shared that 177 people died in 8,881 road accidents in the fiscal year, 2023/24 while 187 people died in 10,675 road accidents recorded in the previous fiscal year.

In the year 2022/23, 191 people had lost their lives in 10,733 road accidents.

SP Khadka claimed that the road accidents were brought down due to a number of factors such as public awareness programme, strict security checks and various traffic campaigns which, he argued, made the traffic management further effective.

Plans to make traffic management reform more effective to reduce road accidents have been forwarded in the current fiscal year as well, he observed.

Public awareness programmes encouraged road users to comply with the traffic rules and take road safety seriously, he reasoned, informing that traffic awareness campaigns have directly benefitted 477,303 people so far.

The campaigns also contributed to the reduction of road mishaps triggered by driving under influence of alcohol or narcotic drugs, non-compliance with lane discipline, and over-speeding among others, added Office Chief SSP Jivan Kumar Shrestha.

He shared that traffic police took action against over one million people who violated traffic rules and collected over Rs 720 million in revenue from the fine slapped on them.

Patrolling are regularly conducted in the inner streets and narrow roads as well as river corridors while traffic beats area expanded in several places, SSP Shrestha said. RSS