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new delhi: even as the delhi traffic police dealt with road accidents on tuesday, two mishaps showed the vulnerability of the road-user in the capital. ‘‘while 1,635 persons died in 1,581 accidents last year, this year we have 200 less in each category — 1,435 persons died in 1,381 accidents this year,’’ maxwell pereira, joint commissioner of police (traffic) said. he attributes this achievement to a host of traffic management steps undertaken by his department. while buses and trucks remain the most prolific killer vehicles, two-wheelers continue being vulnerable next to the pedestrians. ‘‘out of every 100 accidents, trucks and buses are the killer vehicles on 45 occasions,’’ added pereira. tuesday’s accident where a dtc’s km-scheme bus mowed down a scooterist and his wife is a gory reminder of the frequency with which buses hit two-wheelers. there have been 65 instances of buses colliding with two-wheelers this year which left 66 people dead. in another accident involving heavy vehicles, a truck collided with a police control room van and injured three policemen in the wee hours of tuesday in shahdara. says rohit baluja, institute of road traffic education’s chief: ‘‘most of the drivers of these heavy commercial vehicles are ill-trained. couple this with the stressful conditions under which they drive and accidents are bound to occur.’’ ‘‘besides, mixed traffic on city roads doesn’t augur well for safety. it puts slow-moving two-wheeled traffic at risk,’’ baluja added. although most accidents are attributed to overspeeding, the traffic police insist that they conduct speed gun radar checks at about 90 locations in the city. says deputy commissioner of traffic police, new delhi range, arun kampani: ‘‘we conduct speed gun checks on national highway 24, just after the nizamuddin bridge. drivers have a tendency to overspeed on these smooth stretches.’’ in fact, the traffic police on monday had decided to step up enforcement activity during this week. over 35 lakh vehicle owners have already been prosecuted. ‘‘more than 50,000 blueline, 40,000 chartered and 17,000 under-km scheme buses have been challaned so far this year on various traffic violations including dangerous driving,’’ traffic officials said.
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