New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) The number of road accidents in the capital have decreased over the last three years, the Lok Sabha was informed Tuesday.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Home Affairs Mullappally Ramachandran said in 2007, 8,620 accidents took place, in 2008, 8,435 and in 2009, 7,516.

A total number of 3,481 accidents have taken place in the capital this year so far. Out of this 1,199 resulted in casualties and 3,335 persons were injured, he said.

On a query raised by Nishikant Dubey, a BJP MP from Jharkhand, about the reasons behind these accidents, the minister said the accidents in the capital take place due to over-speeding, rash and negligent driving, drunk driving, disregard for traffic rules, poor road geometrics, poor lighting and lack of pedestrian facilities.

The Lok Sabha was also informed about the various measures adopted by Delhi Police to prevent road accidents.

The measures include increased presence of traffic personnel in accident-prone areas, facilitation at pedestrian crossings, prosecution of traffic rule offenders, decongestion of bus lane, prosecution against drunk driving, strict prosecution of unauthorised trucks and night checking.