Chandigarh, May 11
Haryana’s “killer roads” claim a life every two hours while one person is injured every hour. Roads in the state have claimed 1,461 lives while 2,962 persons were injured in the past four months.

Haryana’s millennium city, Gurgaon, has reported the highest death toll of 151 though it has the least number of accidents at 41. The number of injured was the highest in Gurgaon with 311 persons reported injured during January-April this year, revealed data with The Tribune.

Sonepat with the highest number of 255 road accidents reported 127 deaths and 213 injured. Rewari with 211 accidents reported 105 deaths and 212 injured. Panchkula with 34 deaths in 82 accidents, Narnaul with 39 deaths in 122 accidents and Kurukshetra with 44 deaths in 88 accidents were some of the safest districts in the state.

Sources said laxity on the part of the Haryana Police to enforce traffic rules, particularly wearing of helmets for two-wheeler drivers, and unsafe driving behaviour were some of the major causes for the high number of accidents.

Since the usage of the national and state highways is one of the highest in Haryana, this is also one of the reasons for the large number of accidents, argued Harman Sidhu, brand ambassador of the Haryana Police on road safety. Driving habits and non-observance of traffic rules by motorists were also to be blamed for the high rate of accidents, he added.

On an average, 13 persons were killed and 26 injured on Haryana roads last year. The state had recorded 10,672 accidents in 2,011 — down from 10,804 in 2,010. The number of fatal accidents had also come down from 4,200 in 2010 to 4,145 in 2011.

Gurgaon has the dubious distinction of having the most unsafe roads with 462 deaths. Sonepat and Jhajjar with 291 and 271 deaths, respectively, were ranked next to Gurgaon. Fatehabad (102 deaths), Panchkula (120) and Kaithal (140) districts were considered to be the safest in the state.

• Driving behaviour of drivers, particularly Haryana Roadways drivers
• One of the highest usage of national and state highways by motorists in the country
• Non-observance of traffic rules by drivers, specially two-wheeler drivers
• Lax implementation of traffic rules by the Haryana Police