75% more challans, still on the wrong side of law

Ghaziabad: On July 11 last year, a private bus barrelling down the wrong side of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway for nearly 8 km rammed into an SUV heading towards Rajasthan, killing six of a family and injuring two others.
As if in a reaffirmation to the dangers of wrong-side driving, on Sunday night, two motorists — a mother-son duo — travelling from Haridwar were killed after a car, coming from the wrong side of DME, hit their scooter on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) near the Mehrauli underpass.
Across the city, be it on the expressways or internal roads, driving on the wrong side has become a routine affair, with police failing to curb the menace. This, despite the number of penalties for the violation increasing every year.
According to the traffic department, in the first four months of the year, police issued 71,083 challans for wrong-side driving, nearly 76% more than the 40,354 challans issued in the same period last year for the offence.
Stretches prone to wrong-side driving include the Vijay Nagar bypass, the Hindon bridge and the Chhijarsi cut on NH-9 and GT Road, police said. Two- and three-wheeler riders, in particular, are the biggest culprits, they said. Police also found most motorists drove on the wrong side knowingly. “There is a general impression that if police presence is thin, motorists can take quick turns without getting caught. Steep fines — Rs 5,000 — seem to do little more than act as a momentary deterrent,” a senior officer said.
A total of 12,798 challans have been issued to two-wheelers caught driving against the oncoming traffic on DME and NH-9 this year so far.
According to cops, nearly 20% of accidents reported in the city can be attributed to wrong-side driving. A total of 266 accidents were reported between Jan and March this year, while 230 were recorded during the same period last year. The fatality rate went up by 36% this year — 105 died and 190 were injured this year, while 77 were killed and 162 injured in the preceding year.
In 2022, a total of 193 accidents were reported, and 79 people were killed and 148 injured.
Reports published by the road transport ministry, titled ‘Road Accidents in India’ in 2023, show that wrong side driving or against the flow of traffic has been the second biggest cause of road deaths in India after speeding. Nearly 43,000 persons were killed between 2017 and 2021 due to such traffic offences, it said.