Overtaking took 30,000 lives in India in 2015

New Delhi: Last year, over 30,000 lives were lost in road crashes caused due to overtaking, according to the recent road traffic accident report by transport ministry. “Overtaking is a menace across all roads simply because neither the road users nor the enforcement agencies are aware of the right of way. The rules clearly mention that you can’t overtake at crossings, junctions, bend or wherever you can’t see the traffic clearly,” said road safety expert Rohit Baluja.

It also shows how diverging and merging resulted in nearly 32,000 fatalities on roads while stationary and other parked vehicles were involved in nearly 26,000 crashes that claimed 7,280 lives last year. According to experts, poor traffic engineering is responsible for increasing cases of crashes and fatalities due to diverging and merging traffic. They said every road should be audited and the necessary changes must be made to make them safer.