124 black spots removed, Punjab sees 35% dip in road fatalities

Chandigarh, April 29

In the past one year, the Punjab Road Safety and Traffic Research Centre (PRSTRC) has removed 124 black spots or accident-prone areas of 239. This represents a significant reduction of 52 per cent in black spots.

ADGP AS Rai said the PRSTRC had created jobs for professionals who had been assisting in promoting road safety and ensuring safe transportation system for all.

The PRSTRC has also contributed towards research and innovation by developing state-of-the-art crash investigation vehicles and smart barricades that use artificial intelligence to improve road safety, he said.

The centre had identified 784 black spots in the state. With an investment of Rs 1,100 crore, the PRSTRC along with the the National Highways Authority of India worked on 239 black spots and eliminated 124 accident-prone areas, said Rai.

Giving details of the road accident fatalities, Navdeep Asija, Punjab Traffic Adviser-cum-Director, PRSTRC, said 1,434 people had lost their lives on these black spots between 2016 and 2018. He said the fatalities reduced to 932 on these black spots. This represents a significant reduction of 35 per cent fatalities at these spots.

Rai said the PRSTRC was the first step towards evidence-based policing and making in-house arrangements for data-led decision making. “This has helped us not only to optimise our resources, but to plan impactful interventions using a data-led approach,” he said.