Jammu, June 28 (IANS) Eight Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel and a civilian driver were injured in a road accident near Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in J&K’s Reasi district on Sunday, police said,.

Police said the accident occurred when a bus carrying them overturned along the Tarakote route to the shrine.

The condition of three of the injured CISF personnel — Head Constables Sammy Kumar and M.M. Dubey and constable P.K. Traya — was said to be serious, officials said.

The seriously injured personnel were admitted to the Narayana hospital in Katra town, the officials said.

The rest of the injured, who included a sub-inspector and the civilian driver, Virender Singh, were admitted to the Community Health Centre in Katra, where their condition is said to be stable.

The officials said the CISF personnel, deployed in the shrine area, were heading back to their camp after work.

Road accidents in Jammu & Kashmir are primarily caused by a combination of treacherous hilly terrain, rash driving, and inadequate road infrastructure. These factors are severely exacerbated by overloading, lack of strict traffic enforcement, and delayed emergency response systems along major highways.

The crisis on J&K roads is driven by several factors, including human error and negligent driving, over-speeding & glorification of speed, overtaking on blind curves, and impatient driving, which lead to a large portion of head-on collisions.

A rise in mobile phone usage and texting while driving takes attention away from the difficult mountain roads.

Unqualified individuals operating vehicles, particularly teenagers on two-wheelers, also contribute significantly to road accidents.

Impaired driving due to alcohol or drugs is a notable concern, especially late at night.

Districts like Doda, Ramban, and Kishtwar feature narrow, winding roads with sheer drops and blind spots. Many stretches lack essential safety features like parapet walls, proper crash barriers, and adequate warning signage.

Frequent landslides, fog, heavy rains, and shooting stones make navigation highly perilous in certain seasons.

Passenger vehicles — especially in rural and hilly areas — routinely exceed their capacity, which severely affects vehicle balance and braking.

Operating ageing, unfit vehicles without proper brake or tyre checks, leads to mechanical failures.

Failure to wear helmets and seatbelts drastically increases the fatality rate during a crash.

–IANS

sq/vd