Pakistan has reported the highest number of fatalities in road accidents in Asia. The country ranked 48th in the world in terms of road accident fatalities. Road accidents kill nearly 1.35 million people worldwide each year, while 20-50 million suffer non-fatal injuries.
Dr. Salman Zubair, an assistant professor in the geography department at the University of Karachi (KU), shared this information with the audience on Thursday during a road safety awareness walk and seminar, the News has reported.
The geography department organized the seminar at KU Arts Auditorium in collaboration with the National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP) South Zone.
He stated that the expected monetary loss due to road accidents in Karachi alone was more than Rs. 47.8 billion per year. This amount was nearly 0.5% of Pakistan’s GNP, 2.5% of its GDP, and 12.7% of Karachi’s GDP, he added.
A recent report from the department of sociology of Quaid-e-Azam University revealed that the country has witnessed an exponential rise in road accidents. The causal factors include old and unmaintained cars, use of mobile phones, reckless driving, bad road conditions, etc.
Citing official data from the relevant departments, the study highlighted that out of the total accidents on the Srinagar Highway in 2021, 57% of accidents were fatal, while 43% were non-fatal. In 2022, the percentage flipped to 43% fatal and 57% non-fatal accidents, however, the severity of injuries was higher.
In 2022, the percentage flipped to 43% fatal and 57% non-fatal accidents, however, the severity of injuries was higher. It bears mentioning that these figures will have risen much higher by the time this year concludes.
The report counted overspeeding and reckless driving as the main causes of accidents. However, it established that the reason behind overspeeding and reckless driving is the negligence of the authorities.
Jaisi traffic habits hain, aur jaahiliyat barhti ja rahi hai logo mai, yeh aur increase kr sakta hai. Allah hidayat de sb ko. Aur ikhlaqiyaat aur insaaniyat ka muzahira karnay ki taufeeq de hamain.