Madurai: A drop in traffic enforcement during the election season contributed to more road accidents in Tamil Nadu in the first half of 2026, with police personnel diverted for poll-related duties.
The state recorded 37,292 accidents between Jan and June, against 35,226 during the corresponding period in 2025. This marked a 6% increase, with the daily accident average rising to 206. Despite the rise in crashes, fatalities did not increase and hovered around the 9,500-mark in both the years. Transport (road safety wing) officials attributed this to better positioning of ambulances near accident hotspots and quicker treatment under the Innuyir Kappom-Nammai Kaakkum 48 scheme. Under this initiative, cashless emergency medical care (up to ₹2 lakh) is provided for road accident victims within the first 48 hours of an incident.
“We were also told to go easy on violations to avoid public backlash during the election period,” said a senior Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) official. Commenting on the trend, advocate V S Suresh Kumar said the state earlier observed Road Safety Week in the first week of Jan, while GCTP ran campaigns such as Zero Accident Day. The impact is evident in the accident numbers now,” he said.
Both traffic and law-and-order police, usually deployed for enforcement drives, were reassigned during the poll campaign. “Sustained awareness drives for nearly a month had an impact, bringing down accidents in January, one of the two deadliest months in Tamil Nadu. This year, the focus shifted to Pongal and jallikattu, while road-safety campaigns were barely conducted.