Road accidents surge 23% in Karnali

SURKHET: The number of road accidents in Karnali Province increased by 23% in the fiscal year 2025/26 compared to the previous year.

The death toll, however, fell by three percent, according to the Nepal Police Highway Safety and Traffic Management Office in Birendranagar.

According to the office’s annual report, a total of 1,197 road accidents were recorded across the province during the year. The accidents claimed 135 lives and left 2,307 people injured.

SP Mukunda Prasad Rijal, chief of the office, said overspeeding was the leading cause of accidents during the review year.

Of the total crashes, 671, or 62%, were attributed to speeding. Other causes included 112 accidents due to miscellaneous reasons, 51 caused by driver incompetence, 48 linked to drink-driving, 39 involving pedestrians, 20 while overtaking, 18 due to mechanical failure and eight caused by brake failure. A small number of accidents resulted from adverse weather conditions.

Motorcycles accounted for 738 vehicles involved in crashes, representing about 47% of the total, according to the report. Jeeps, cars and vans accounted for 17% of the crashes, followed by auto-rickshaws and tempos (14%), tractors (7%), microbuses (6%), trucks and tankers (4%), and buses (3%).

By age group, people between 26 and 40 years accounted for the highest number of accidents. This represented 44% of the total. According to the office, people in this age bracket travel the most, drive more frequently, and are more active on the roads for employment. This increases their risk of being involved in crashes, it added.

Likewise, the highest number of accidents, 43%, occurred between noon and 6 pm.

District-wise, Surkhet was the most accident-prone district. Of the 1,197 accidents recorded across the province, 690 occurred in Surkhet alone. Rukum West was next with 139 accidents, followed by Dailekh (85), Salyan (75), Jajarkot (56), Jumla (46), Kalikot (42), Dolpa (28), Humla (19) and Mugu (17).

According to the office, the rise in accidents is mainly due to the rapid increase in the number of vehicles, narrow and deteriorating local roads, a shortage of traffic police personnel, inadequate road safety infrastructure and technically unfit vehicles.

Vehicle registrations in the province increased by 16.27% in fiscal year 2025/26.

Meanwhile, cases of traffic rule violations declined during the year. According to the office, traffic enforcement actions fell by 23% from the previous fiscal year to 29,775 cases. Revenue collected from fines also dropped by 20% to Rs 27.22 million.