Autos Posing A Hazard In Vizag

Visakhapatnam is witnessing a lot of accidents lately. There have been various reasons for it as well, like rash driving, drunk driving or just ignorance of the traffic rules. A total number of 833 accidents were reported this year dated till August. The most astonishing thing is that Autos – the three wheeler vehicles were involved in 200 accidents out of a total number of 833 accidents.

There have been seven accidents personally seen in the last seven days. On an average, that is one accident per day that we know of. In 2015, autos were involved in 177 accidents out of a total number of 1,298 accidents. The rising number of auto rickshaws is making everyone from the traffic police to the locals worried. “The auto- drivers think it is their own road and they could drive however they wish”, said the owner of two-wheeler. They stop their rickshaws at random places without any prior signal or just get through a narrow road creating an obstacle for other vehicles.

The Road Transport Authority (RTA) has set a permissible number of autos on the city roads but it always is far more than that. In 2002, the permissible number of autos was 8,300 but the number of autos on the road was 15,000. Now, the permissible number is 18,800 but on road there are 55,800 auto rickshaws. The main problem is that the autos are not only from local areas but also from Anakapalle, Vizianagram and Srikakulam.

The Traffic Police department has proposed a ban on autos from other areas but still await the decision. They are also thinking to include more areas under the no-auto zone. Right now, only Beach Road follows this rule, it does not allow autos from 5 in the evening on Saturdays and Sundays.