KATHMANDU, Jan 3: The rise in the installation of traffic lights at various points has had a positive impact on the number of road accidents in the Kathmandu Valley. The number of road accidents in the valley has been on a decreasing trend in the past three fiscal years with even fewer accidents taking place in the first five months of the fiscal year 2024/25.
According to the data maintained by the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office (KVTPO), as many as 2045 road accidents have taken place in the capital valley in the first five months of the fiscal year 2024/25 which is around 23 percent of the total accidents in the valley in the preceding fiscal year. A total of 8881 road accidents took place in the valley in fiscal year 2023/24.
In the previous three years, the number of road accidents in the valley saw a steady decrease with a plunge of 17 percent in the number of accidents from fiscal year 2022/23 to 2023/24. A total of 10,675 road accidents took place in the valley in fiscal year 2022/23, plummeting to 8,881 accidents in 2023/24.
Lights Out
KVTPO officials say the number of road accidents in the valley has decreased in the past three years due to an increasing trend in installing traffic lights and enforcing rules regarding them, increased screening of drunk drivers, improved road safety sense after traffic rules violators attend corrective classes at the KVTPO and improved lane discipline.
Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Deepak Giri at the KVTPO told Republica that the increased traffic discipline due to enforcement of rules related to traffic lights and lane discipline are the primary contributors to the decrease in road accidents.
“With the increase in the number of traffic lights across the valley, we find the circumstance more favorable to enforce the rules related to traffic lights,” DSP Giri said, “Now we find it easier to hold the public, especially drivers, responsible if they are found to have violated rules related to traffic lights.”
Of the three districts in the valley, Lalitpur has made the most progress in the installation of operational traffic lights. The Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC) recently stepped up the ante by installing intelligent traffic lights at five locations in the metropolis. According to the KVTPO, although traffic lights are installed at 64 locations in the valley, they are operational at only 35 locations for various reasons.
In addition to the effect of the installation of more traffic lights at various locations in the valley, the KVTPO has also claimed that the expedited checking for drunk drivers across the valley has also contributed to the declining trend of road accidents. “We consistently nab drunk drivers by using breathalyzers, which has created an environment whereby drivers simply don’t drive when they consume alcohol,” DSP Giri told Republica.
However, there has also been an increasing trend of drunk drivers simply avoiding the regular checkpoints for breathalyzer tests in order to evade the police. DSP Giri responded that the KVTPO has planned to set up new checkpoints in order to catch drunk drivers. “While we have set up the current checkpoints for drunk drivers according to the flow of traffic on different roads,” DSP Giri said, “We have realized that we need to change the locations of the checkpoints in order to catch drunk drivers by surprise.”
