Daltonganj: Road accidents continue to pose a major challenge in Palamu, with the district recording 239 crashes and 172 deaths between Jan and Aug this year, according to administrative data.In Aug alone, 20 accidents claimed 12 lives. Officials said the number of injured people in road accidents is generally about half the number of fatalities.Authorities have stepped up enforcement to curb reckless driving. As many as 45 driving licences were suspended in Aug, mainly for helmet-related violations, taking the total number of suspensions this year to 1,690.Palamu has more than half a dozen identified accident-prone black spots. Heavy tipper trucks are frequently blamed for serious crashes. Drivers, however, said overloading and the pressure to evade checks by the police and mining department often lead to speeding.To review safety measures, deputy commissioner Dilip Pratap Singh Shekhawat chaired a meeting of the district road safety committee at the collectorate on Tuesday. SP Kapil Chaudhary and other officials attended the meeting.Civil society activist R K Yadav suggested that educational institutions screen road safety films to sensitise young riders to the consequences of reckless driving. He also called for public awareness campaigns modelled on initiatives in other states, where damaged vehicles are displayed along highways as a warning to motorists.Officials said accident numbers often rise around festive and social occasions, including the wedding season and New Year celebrations, when road travel increases and incidents of drunk driving may also go up.
