Flying over danger: Ahmedabad's SG Road witnesses 28% drop in accidents

Call it the impact of six flyovers, an underpass or the long periods of night curfews imposed during past two years of the pandemic, the stretch between Sarkhej and Vaishnodevi circles on SG Road recorded an impressive drop of 28% in road traffic accident (RTA) calls received by EMRI 108 from 2019 to 2021.

According to the EMRI 108 data, the city overall recorded 14% drop in RTA calls in 2021 compared to 2019.

The drop in accidents on the stretch on the SG Road, which is one of the busiest in terms of vehicular volume and carries infamy of being one of the top accident hotspots in the city, was double as compared to the city average.

The biggest drop was seen near Gota where the calls fell from 566 to 338, or about 40%. "The reduction should also be seen in the light that three new locations are added at Thaltej, Science City and Vaishnodevi circle in 2021. But even then, the numbers have decreased," said a senior EMRI analyst.

Tejas Patel, DCP of city police's traffic branch, said night curfew due to the pandemic and road engineering interventions reduced collisions by a great margin.

"The stretch has seen operationalization of several flyovers in the past couple of years that has eased traffic flow," he said, adding that traffic bottlenecks are being identified and removed across the city.

Amit Khatri, executive committee member of Gujarat Road Safety Authority, said that the past couple of years have witnessed operationalization of several road infrastructure projects including a few roads parallel to SG Road, which has reduced vehicle burden on the stretch.