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Thiruvananthapuram: Road accidents in Kerala claimed 3,778 lives in 2007, marking an alarming rise, state Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas has said.
He informed the assembly on Wednesday that 39,917 road accidents occurred in the state last year.
The number of accidents in 2007 were lower than the 41,647 accidents in 2006, but the number of deaths in 2006 were lower at 3,559.
The new year appears to show no let up in the number of casualties on the road, with 1,312 persons killed in 12,953 road accidents between January and April.
According to the statistics presented by the transport minister, the status or quality of the road appeared to have no relevance, as roads of all types witnessed accidents. The number of accidents on national highways in 2007 was 10,907 while there were 6,258 accidents on state highways and 22,752 accidents on district roads.
The state government has plans to add more interceptors to check over-speeding and introduce more stringent driving tests, besides stiffer punishment, he said.
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