Roads accidents in Himachal :

The geography of Himachal presents considerable challenge to the development of transport infrastructure. Nevertheless, the state has made significant progress in road connectivity in the last few decades. Though Himachal at present has the highest road density among all the hill states of India, but the road accidents in state occurring more frequently : 

Dicey roads in the land of Gods, Himachal Pradesh have turned ‘killer’ as over 1,000 persons reportedly lose their lives in road accidents in the hill state on an average annually, often for similar reasons. Himachal generally has narrow roads negotiating with the hills, with rivers or local khads flowing at a depth. The chance of survival is very less whenever a bus plunges into the steep gorge, rolling down with speed.

The state witness approximately 3,000 road accidents  killing over 1,000 people and leaving over 5,000 injured every year according to govt. data.

Major reasons of fatal accidents in state :

Bad roads in the tough terrain, negligent or drunken driving, over speeding,  absence of crash barriers, absence of signs in accident prone areas unchecked plying of old buses and absence of highway policing, all these are identified factors repeatedly making up for accidents in Himachal Pradesh. Others are :

1. It is a common phenomenon that the buses carrying tourists and pilgrims from other states often meet with accidents in Himachal for lack of experience to negotiate the curves and over speeding. But the public and private transport in the state too has been meeting the same ill-fate for many gaps, for which the system is to be blamed much.

2. Due to poor condition of transport infrastructure, which not protected by roadside safety measures, travelling on state roads is becoming nothing short of a nightmare.

3. In Himachal poor condition of roads is blamed for frequent road accidents but till date neither the condition of these roads have been improved nor adequate crash barriers have been installed. Even the black spots identified by the experts too not have been improved. Failing to maintain the roads resulting into mishaps. 

4. In many cases, the private buses, which are in a hurry to lift as many passengers on way, meet accidents, with over speeding and overcrowding the main factors. In interior belts of Himachal, where the private operators don’t go, even the HRTC buses are overcrowded for lesser availability of public transport. Many accidents involve tourist buses coming to the in summers as the outside drivers are unable to catch up with hill driving.

5. It is a disturbing fact that frequent bus accidents are taking  hundred of lives due to non adherence to safety norms and to provisons of motor vehicles act, 1988.

Measures to take, to reduce road accidents are :

1. Most of the road accidents are taking place due to bad condition of roads.Government should pay more attention on improvement and maintenance of the roads to avoid frequent accidents so that innocent people do not lose their lives.

2.  If the speed governors are installed in commercial vehicles in a foolproof manner as per the directions of the Apex court, the accident rate and the deaths could be curtailed. 

3. The Police have a major role in preventing the accidents by putting up warning signals, by strict highway patrolling and by strict enforcement of rules to check over-speeding, drunken driving and other issues like proper licenses and documents ( in case of private buses. But, in Himachal, the Police patrolling on highways and the enforcement of traffic rules outside the cities are weak areas.

4. The state should provide crash barriers not only on highways, but inner roads also, which link the tough and remote areas. 

5. In Himachal poor condition of roads is blamed for frequent road accidents but till date neither the condition of these roads have been improved nor the state government for strict enforcement and said if the speed governors are installed in commercial vehicles in a foolproof manner as per the directions of the Apex court, the accident rate and the deaths could be curtailed. 

             All over the World, public transport system is considered as safest but in Himachal Pradesh it is not safe. But only in 2013 a survey was conducted by NRSC ( National Road safety Council ) with Transport Research Laboratory as lead agency.The bus accidents are a major cause of worry in the state, as they lead to very high number of causalities in one go. (The state has seen bus accidents with even more than 50 casualties in the past). The death rate in road accidents in the state is on the higher side in the country.

Government should pay more attention on improvement and maintenance of the roads to avoid frequent accidents, strict enforcements of laws,black spot the accident prone areas, checking of vehicles, establish crash barriers, proper training of drivers as well system should be developed to check the health status of public transport drivers in depots.