Pakistan is being counted among the worst countries in the world list regarding traffic accidents. Every five minutes, one person gets involved in a traffic accident here. In 2018, Pakistan was ranked 67th in the global death rate and the number of deaths reached 36,000. In 2019, the World Health Organization released a report according to which Pakistan was ranked 104th in the world in terms of traffic accidents. The report also stated that traffic accidents will be the fifth leading cause of death by 2030. In the reports that have come out in 2023, the rate of road accidents in Pakistan is much higher than other countries, where it is estimated that more than forty Thousands of people die in traffic accidents every year, thousands of people are seriously injured and permanently disabled.

In terms of traffic accidents, Punjab is first, Sindh second, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa third, Balochistan fourth and Islamabad is in fifth place. Global experts who monitor traffic accidents around the world in Pakistan carelessness, non-standard roads, overloading, one-way violation, overtaking, signal breaking, young and inexperienced drivers unaware of traffic rules, mobile phones while driving. Use of brakes, failure of brakes, use of outdated tires, non-standard speed breakers, driving vehicles on roads without maintenance and fitness and speeding are the major causes of accidents, more than 65% of accidents are caused by heavy vehicles. and the most victims are motorcyclists, vehicle falls into ravines while taking dangerous turns in hilly areas and landslides are major causes of accidents, the increasing rate of accidents in the country is a clear indication of the deterioration of our traffic system.

It is for which all necessary measures should be taken.

It is mainly the poorly maintained roads, violation of traffic rules, and speedy and reckless driving by drivers that are the main causes of such deadly fatalities on the roads. There is an alarming rise in road accidents across the country, with Punjab in the lead. Reports of road accidents fill our newspapers almost daily. They are on an all-time rise, especially in metropolitan cities. Road accidents may have many different causes, like poor road conditions, but reckless driving is one of the major reasons. Every year, huge scores of people die in road accidents. It is one of the major reasons of unnatural deaths in Pakistan as the number of fatalities is alarmingly high with an average of 15 deaths every day. A recent study shows that our country topped the list of Asian countries with the highest number of deaths in road fatalities.  It is also painful to know that Karachi has emerged as the fourth in the list of  mega cities where the road fatalities are the most in the world. Speakers at a seminar at KU said that 67 per cent of accidents take place due to reckless driving and speeding. While  the road conditions and poor infrastructure account for 28pc of road accidents. The people who die on the roads in Pakistan majorly include those falling in the age bracket of 15-29. According to a  report by World Health Organisation (WHO), 30,310 or 2.69 per cent of people in Pakistan die due to road accidents each year. This means that about 20 people out of 100,000 die in road accidents in a year, making Pakistan rank 67th in the world for a higher percentage of road traffic accidents. In the past 50 years, more people succumbed to death due to road accidents than the war on terror in our country. It is high-time that we develop a movement against reckless driving. Another date showed that Punjab is leading the figures of accidents and on average, 35% of the total road crashes in Pakistan on a daily basis were taking place in Punjab. Meanwhile, the last 10 years data on traffic accidents in Pakistan present a horrific picture as average 15 people died every day in traffic accidents across the country. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data on traffic accidents in Pakistan from 2004 to 2013, the ratio of killings in road accidents in Sindh was recorded at up to 86 percent. The overall ratio of deaths in road accidents across the country has been recorded up to 55 percent which according to the experts and former traffic police officials is the highest. According to the data, total 51,416 people died in 97,739 road accidents across the country. Out of total casualties, as many as 29,524 were killed in 51,715 accidents in Punjab, 9,639 died in 13,965 accidents in Sindh, 9,494 people died in 27,939 accidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 2,250 people died in Balochistan in 4,085 accidents. Out of the total number of accidents, 43,582 were recorded as fatal which is 47.3 percent. While analysing the data further in order to know the ratio of people killed per accidents across the country, it was found that the ratio of deaths per accident is 55 percent in last 10 years across the country. Similarly, the ratio of injured people per accident is percent. The data was further analysed on provincial level according to which Punjab is on top in terms of number of accidents, casualties and people injured in the traffic accidents. The number of accidents in Punjab is 52 percent of the total. The data shows that the average number of people died per accident in Punjab is up to 60 percent which is the second highest in the country. Similarly, the number of injured people per accident was recorded up to 129 percent. Although the number of accidents in Sindh was recorded very low during last 10 years but the number of casualties was higher than any province in the country. As per data, total 13,965 accidents were recorded from 2004-13 and total 9,639 people died. The number of accidents although are high in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, however the number of casualties is lowest in terms of percentage per accident. As per data, total 27,939 accidents were recorded and 9,494 people died in these accidents, whereas 39,799 were injured. The analysis of the data shows that the ratio of deaths per accident in the province is lowest which is up to 36 percent of the total accidents. However, the ratio of injured persons per accident is recorded up to 127 percent.

Published in The Daily National Courier, October, 12 2023

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