Bhubaneswar: The number of road accidents in Odisha has declined following implementation of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, said state Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera on Friday.
The new MV Act was implemented in the state on September 1 in 2019. Between September and December last year, the number of accidents has come down by 9.93% as compared to the same period in 2018. Similarly, the number of deaths due to road accidents has decreased by 12.29% in the given period. In September-December 2018, 3573 road accidents were reported with 1635 fatalities. In the same period in 2019, 3218 accidents were reported with 1434 fatalities.
Between January and March 2020, there was a reduction of 5.78% in road accidents and 14.36% in number of deaths due to road mishaps as compared to the same period in 2019. The number of road accidents was 3058 between January and March in 2019 and 2881 during the same period in 2020. The number road accidents deaths was 1580 during January-March, 2019 and 1353 in the same period in 2020.
“The number of casualties and injuries due to road accidents have come down in Odisha with implementation of new MVAct. The number of accidents have also decreased during the COVID-19 lockdown,” added the Transport Minister.
