Dharamsala, Dec 14 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh government is considering installation of global positioning system (GPS) in the state-run and private buses to reduce the arte of road accidents in the state, Transport Minister Mohinder Singh said Monday.
“We are mulling to install GPS in the state-run and private buses,” Singh told the state assembly.

He said the government has taken several measures to reduce the number of accidents, including banning use of mobile phone by drivers and use of audio systems in the buses.

“Most of the accidents have occurred due to human errors. Rash driving, overloading and use of mobile phone are primarily responsible for the accidents,” he said.

According to police records, rash driving, overloading, untrained drivers, unfit buses and poor roads have been among the factors that killed over 8,000 people in road accidents in the past 10 years in the state.

The number of accidental deaths was at an all-time high in 2007 when 979 people lost their lives in 2,955 accidents. Last year, 581 people were killed in road accidents in the state.

The six-day winter session of the assembly here started Monday afternoon.