Assam topped northeast in road accidents last year: Report

Assam had topped the northeastern region in the number of road accidents last year, a report published by the state police said.

A total of 2,966 people were killed and 7,375 injured in 8,248 accidents last year, according to the report titled 'An analytical glimpse on road accidents in Assam', made available to PTI on Wednesday.

The report said the state had ranked 16th in the country in the number of road accidents.

It said 30 people were killed and 89 injured in every 100 accidents in the state.

Eight people were killed and 20 injured on an average in road accidents in the state every day last year, it said.

"Lack of knowledge of road safety rules is one of the main causes of accidents. Majority of these were caused due to negligent and callous driving," state Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia said.

Saikia said many deaths and injuries due to road accidents could have been prevented.

The occurrence of road accidents had risen by 15 per cent in 2018 over the previous year, while fatalities had seen a spurt of six per cent and injuries rose by 19 per cent, the report said.

Forty eight per cent of the accidents had occurred on the national highways while 26 per cent of those had taken place on the state highways and other roads.

Road accidents had risen in 30 districts of the state whereas four districts had witnessed a dip.

On the other hand, fatalities and injuries had risen in 24 and 26 districts respectively, it said.