KATHMANDU: An estimated 20,362 people have died in road accidents in the last ten years in the country, according to statistics maintained by the Nepal Police Headquarters.
The number of deaths has been increasing alarmingly. During the period, thousands of people sustained injuries.
Unbelievably, the number of road casualties in a decade has outnumbered the deaths that occurred during the decade-long Maoist insurgency.
According to the record, around 20,362 people lost their lives in road accidents in the last one decade while around 17,000 people were killed during the Maoist insurgency.
In the last 10 years, there were a total of 94,322 accidents in the country. In the last one year from April 14, 2018, to April 13, 2019, a total of 2, 564 people lost their lives in road accidents, police headquarter confirmed.
Former DIG Keshav Adhikari says, “Road accidents have been increasing at an alarming rate. The number of injured is also going up, posing a serious challenge.”
Road accidents becoming a deathtrap
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road accidents have been the 10th biggest cause of people’s death globally.
Road accidents are the fourth cause of deaths in Nepal, the Nepal Health Research Council said. Diarrhea, malaria and other infectious diseases are responsible for the greatest cause of deaths in Nepal, accounting for 42 percent of the deaths, cardiac-related ailments being the second which accounts for 25 percent of deaths. Similarly, cancer is the second cause of death accounting for 11 percent while road accidents have become the fourth cause accounting for 7 percent.
Dr. Baburam Marasini of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division said road accidents have been taking a heavy toll on the Nepali people in recent times.
Nepalis top the chart of road casualties globally
The number of deaths in Nepal due to road accidents is greater compared to the number of casualties that occur in developed countries.
According to the Nepal Police HQ record, around 11 Nepalis lose their lives in accidents from 10,000 vehicles annually. While in the developed countries, only one to 2 people die in road accidents from the same number of vehicles.
Statistics show that four to six people die in road accidents every day in Nepal.
Causes of road accidents
Drivers’ recklessness has been the major cause behind road accidents in Nepal. Other causes include over speeding, drunk driving, flouting traffic rules and poor condition of vehicles and roads.
Measures to reduce road accidents ineffective
In March 2010, the United Nations General Assembly resolution proclaimed a Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 with a goal of stabilizing and reducing the forecasted level of road traffic fatalities around the world.
Nepal has also launched an action plan for road safety (2013-2020) in line with the United Nations resolution, hoping to reduce the number of road casualties by 50 percent. However, the number of accidents is increasing in an unprecedented manner since the launch of the action plan for road safety, according to the statistics.
Former DIG Adhikari says, “The government has to launch awareness programs and people should follow traffic rules strictly to reduce the road mishaps.”
He said that the government has to investigate the causes of road accidents and seek measures to reduce such incidents.
Causes of road accidents
Driver’s recklessness: 43.7 percent
Pedestrian’s recklessness: 9.5 percent
Overtake: 9.8 percent
Over speed: 18.7 percent
Drunk driving: 6.2 percent
Technical glitches of vehicles: 6.1
Excessive load: 5.2 percent
Stray cattle: 0.4 percent
Others: 0.4 percent
(Source: Nepal Police HQ)
Statistics of road accidents in the last 10 years
Fiscal Year No of Casualties No of Accidents
2066/067 1, 734 7438
2067/068 1689 8803
2068/069 1837 8892
2069/070 1816 8484
2070/071 1787 8406
2071/072 2004 9145
2072/073 2006 10093
2073/074 2384 10178
2074/075 2541 10965
2075/076 2564 11918 (until April 13)
Total 20,362 94,322
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