July 4: Accidents in the country are on the rise. The office of the Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICBL) in Phuentsholing recorded over 530 accidents related claims until June this year compared to 725 insurance claims last year.

The number of accidents in the kingdom is set to double this year compared with last year if insurance claim records are anything to go by.

The number of accident related claims in the RICB till June this year has almost caught up with the total number of accidents last year. Till June this year, RICBL has received 534 accident related claims. Last one whole year, the RICBL received 725 insurance claims.

Most of the accidents have been blamed on bad weather and road condition by those who have made insurance claims.

Police however say carelessness is the leading cause of accidents. Another cause is motorists violating traffic rules. A surprise vehicle check between Pasakha and Phuentsholing revealed that at least 20% of the motorists violated traffic rules and regulations.

While overloading is a problem with heavy vehicles, people driving without license and documents are associated with light vehicles and two wheelers. Police said the actual figure of traffic violations would be higher. Overloading is a problem especially in areas where inspections cannot be carried out regularly. Overloaded heavy vehicles ply on the roads usually late in the evening or in the early in the morning to evade the traffic police or Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA) officials. The Regional Transport Officer in Phuentsholing said they are aware of the problem.

With over 35,000 vehicles in the kingdom with over 20,000 vehicles registered in Thimphu and 11000 registered in Phuentsholing, the challenge for the concerned authorities in the two towns are growing. While most drivers blame mechanical failure or external factors, statistics show otherwise.

In 2006, there were around 940 accidents which claimed the lives of 71 people. Of the total, more than half were attributed to carelessness.