Associate Prof. in Economics, Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandha
Online published on 22 June, 2018.
In the last two decades India has emerged as a vibrant economy, witnessing rapid urbanization, migration of people and changing pattern of consumption. The intensity of motorized vehicles has risen by many folds without a matching investment in infrastructure development. Road safety has figured as the most sensitive and crucial issue while addressing to the problem of accidental deaths in the country. Road accidents form the highest proportion of accidental deaths. The present study is an attempt to examine the magnitude, proportion and growth of road accidental deaths and to ascertain the intensity of deaths in road accidents by different types of vehicles in the state of Punjab (India) from 1996 to 2013.
To examine nature of road accidents during the period of analysis, the different type of vehicles and their ownership (whether private or government) is scrutinized. Further in order to ascertain rate of road accidental deaths, magnitude of road accidental deaths per lakh of population in different years in Punjab, is computed. To analyse the growth of road accidental deaths under various types of vehicles, average annual compound growth rates were computed. There has been a spurt in intensity of road accidental deaths and injuries during the period of analysis in the state of Punjab, causing a rise in proportion of road accidental deaths in total accidental deaths by 24.3 percent. Among the different type of vehicles, the fatality rate is maximum by trucks and lorries due to overloading, driving under the influence of intoxicants and lengthy working schedule.
