MYSURU: There has been a 14% rise in number of fatal road accidents in Mysuru in 2018 compared to the previous year. The city witnessed 158 deaths in road accidents.In 2017, 138 persons died and 599 were injured whereas fatal accidents in 2016 were 108. While police claim they’ve been disciplining road users by enforcing helmet rule strictly, it hasn’t had an impact in number of deaths.The last three months witnessed more fatal accidents which saw 40 deaths, with 17 deaths in November alone. About 14 died in October.According to police, of 158 persons killed in 147 road crashes from January to December, 55 died due to severe head injuries and riders suffered them as they weren’t wearing helmets. About four cases of deaths were due to drunken driving.Surprisingly, 19 people died after falling from moving vehicles that police have categorised as self-accident. The rest are due to rash and negligence and overspeeding of vehicles.In all, there were 147 fatal accidents killing 158 people in accidents, and 684 non–fatal accidents wherein 879 suffered injuries.Police commissioner A SubramanyeshwaraRao attributed the increase in road accidents to rise vehicular population and road engineering issues. Simply improving road surface would not benefit road users. After road asphalt, traffic engineering aspects like laying proper dividers, road marking and reflectors would help reduce accidents.He directed all traffic officers to study every road accident and submit a report to take necessary precautions to prevent road accidents. “We will write to Mysuru Urban Development Authority and Mysuru City Corporation to improve roads suited to traffic. Even on outer ring road, dividers are cut, and streetlights and barricades are damaged by vehicles. All these issues will be looked into,” he said.

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