Road accidents in Kathmandu Valley: 88 fatal deaths in six months

Annually hundreds of people have been untimely losing their lives in the Kathmandu Valley due to road accidents.

According to the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, as many as 88 people have lost their lives in 5,865 road accidents in the first six months of the current fiscal year. Likewise, 148 people were critically injured and 4,438 persons sustained minor injuries.

Most of the deceased in the accidents are motorcyclists and pedestrians. Senior vice-president of the National Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs Punya Prasad (Saroj) Sitaula said that two-wheelers in the Kathmandu Valley are more prone to accidents. "High speed of motorcycles and scooters and pedestrians rampantly crossing the road have caused the highest number of fatalities in Kathmandu", he said.

Spokesperson of Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Bhatta, said that the traffic police has been conducting various awareness programs to reduce the number of vehicle accidents in the Valley. "We have been tightening the checking of alcohol consumption to reduce accidents, rules prohibiting vehicles from plying at a speed of more than 50 kilometers per hour to control speeding, checking the status of vehicles and whether there are two drivers in long-distance vehicles," he said.---