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36 per cent of highways in Kerala unsafe for motorists

36 per cent of highways in Kerala unsafe for motorists

KOCHI: More than one-third of the highways in the state are prone to accidents, reveals a latest study report prepared by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC).
According to the 'Road Safety Action Plan for Kerala State (2025-2030)', more than 2,200 km of road corridors -- national highways (NH) and state highways -- in the state are found to be 'crash vulnerable'. The study has been done to facilitate the government to form a comprehensive Road Safety Action Plan which aims to cut the accident fatalities in the state by half by 2030.
While a whopping 60% (1,089.4 km out of the total 1,811.52 km) of the NH is accident-prone, 26% of the state highways (1,144 km out of the total 4,342 km) falls under the category. Combined, 36% (2,233km out of 6,153 km) of the highways are crash vulnerable, shows the report.
The Average Annual Traffic Crashes (AATC) for all major categories of roads in Kerala was found to be higher for NH with 5.15 crashes/km, followed by state highways (2.23 crashes/km). Other roads reported a low crash rate of around 0.10 crashes/km, the report states.
As per the report, a major portion of the vulnerable stretches is in Thrissur (289.9 km) while Ernakulam is second with 265.7 km, followed by Kozhikode (224.3 km), Malappuram (219.7 km), Alappuzha (192.4 km), Kottayam (183.1 km), Thiruvananthapuram (174) km), Palakkad (168.2 km), Kollam (143.1 km), Kannur (137.8 km), Pathanamthitta (83.8 km), Kasaragod (55.3 km), Idukki (49.8 km) and Wayanad (47.7 km).
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36 per cent of highways in Kerala unsafe for motorists
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36 per cent of highways in Kerala unsafe for motorists

KOCHI: More than one-third of the highways in the state are prone to accidents, reveals a latest study report prepared by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC). According to the 'Road Safety Action Plan for Kerala State (2025-2030)', more than 2,200 km of road corridors -- national highways (NH) and state highways -- in the state are found to be 'crash vulnerable'. The study has been done to facilitate the government to form a comprehensive Road Safety Action Plan which aims to cut the accident fatalities in the state by half by 2030. While a whopping 60% (1,089.4 km out of the total 1,811.52 km) of the NH is accident-prone, 26% of the state highways (1,144 km out of the total 4,342 km) falls under the category. Combined, 36% (2,233km out of 6,153 km) of the highways are crash vulnerable, shows the report. The Average Annual Traffic Crashes (AATC) for all major categories of roads in Kerala was found to be higher for NH with 5.15 crashes/km, followed by state highways (2.23 crashes/km). Other roads reported a low crash rate of around 0.10 crashes/km, the report states. As per the report, a major portion of the vulnerable stretches is in Thrissur (289.9 km) while Ernakulam is second with 265.7 km, followed by Kozhikode (224.3 km), Malappuram (219.7 km), Alappuzha (192.4 km), Kottayam (183.1 km), Thiruvananthapuram (174) km), Palakkad (168.2 km), Kollam (143.1 km), Kannur (137.8 km), Pathanamthitta (83.8 km), Kasaragod (55.3 km), Idukki (49.8 km) and Wayanad (47.7 km).

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