Thiruvananthapuram: The key trigger for the increasing number of road accidents in Kerala is the presence of vehicles which are not fit enough to ply on roads, reads a report of the Comptroller and  Auditor General in the state.

As per the report, vehicles that were unfit to ply on roads were involved in 3,097 accidents that took place in the last six years. Out of this, transport vehicles that did not have a fitness certificate were found in 1089 cases while private vehicles whose registration was not renewed were involved in 2008 cases.

The study also revealed that 229 vehicles got renewed fitness certificates days after the accidents.

Section 39 of the Motor Vehicles Act, of 1988 has banned vehicles without registration from plying on the roads.

Only vehicles with fitness certificates are given registration. New vehicles should obtain a fitness certificate once every two years and vehicles that are more than eight years old should get the same every year, as per norms.

The registration period for private vehicles is 15 years. After that, it should be renewed every five years. Every year, 40,000 new vehicles hit the roads in Kerala. Statistics obtained from the Vahan website (https://vahan.parivahan.gov.in/vahan/vahan/ui/login/login.xhtml) showed that 1.72 crore vehicles are registered in Kerala.