PANJIM: Rash and negligent driving continues to be the root cause of road accidents and deaths in Goa and has even increased slightly in 2016 when compared to the previous year.

Goa Traffic Police statistics show a slight increase in cases booked for rash and negligent driving as the traffic authorities registered 5634 such cases in 2016 as compared to 5337 cases in 2015.

However, Goa saw slightly fewer accidents in 2016 which stood at 4304 as compared to 4338 accidents in 2015. In this two year period, there were 618 fatal accidents, 446 accidents leading to grievous injuries (fractures and head injuries) and 5329 non-injury mishaps.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dharmesh Angle said, “Majority of the road accidents which take place in Goa is because of rash and negligent driving, we can say about 90 percent are such type cases and these cases can only be tackled through enforcement.”

GoaCAN coordinator Roland Martins said, “Rash and negligent driving has been a consistent problem in Goa. People who get licences have no comprehensive training and roads are not emphasized upon. We can see youth who overtake from the left side without helmets which is a major concern, unless this changes such type of cases will be on the rise.”

He added, “Speeding is a major concern as youth drive bikes at full speed without using helmets. Hit and run cases have increased and the authorities need to act.”

Another major issue is driving in no entry area of which the Goa traffic cell has booked and issued 28,022 challans for the years 2015 and 2016. Similarly, it was revealed that driving without helmets also saw a decrease from 1,71,191 in 2015 to 1,57,406 in 2016. 

Sources also said that most accidents that have occurred involved two-wheelers signifying that a majority of the victims were of a younger age.