Road crashes in India touch all-time high with 1.68L fatalities; UP tops number of accident deaths

New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) The number of people killed in road crashes in India touched an all time high in 2022 with fatalities crossing 1.68 lakh, which translates to 462 deaths per day or one every three minutes or 19 deaths every hour.

According to the annual report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Tuesday, a total number of 4,61,312 road accidents have been reported by states and Union Territories (UTs) during the calendar year 2022, claiming 1,68,491 lives. 

The number of road accidents in 2022 increased by 11.9 per cent compared to previous year 2021. 

Similarly, the number of deaths and injuries on account of road accidents were also increased by 9.4 per cent and 15.3 per cent respectively. 

These figures translate, on an average, into 1,264 accidents and 462 deaths every day or 53 accidents and 19 deaths every hour in the country. Fatal accidents constitute 33.8 per cent of total accidents during 2022. 

Among the states, Tamil Nadu with 64,105 accidents (13.9 per cent) recorded the highest number of road accidents in 2022 followed by Madhya Pradesh (54,432 i.e., 11.8 per cent). Uttar Pradesh (22,595 i.e., 13.4 per cent) topped the States in respect of the number of fatalities due to road accidents followed by Tamil Nadu (17,884 i.e., 10.6 per cent). During 2022, out of 4,61,312 accidents, 1,51,997 (32.9 per cent) took place on the National Highways (NH) including Expressways, 1,06,682 (23.1 per cent) on State Highways (SH) and the remaining 2,02,633 (43.9 per cent) on other roads. 

Out of total 1,55,781 fatal accidents reported in 2022, 55,571 (35.7 per cent) were on National Highways, 37,861 (24.3 per cent) were on State Highways and 62,349 (40.02 per cent) were on other roads. The data reveals that two wheelers accounted for 41.5 per cent of total accident deaths on National Highways followed by 'cars, taxis, Vans, LMVs' (19.1 per cent), pedestrians (13.5 per cent), trucks (nine per cent), buses (3.5 per cent) and bicycles (2%). 

"Highways (both national and state) accounted for only five percent of total road network witnessed a disproportionately large share of accidents (56.1 per cent) and accident related fatalities (60.6 per cent) during the year 2022 which become the focus of our attention. More accidents on these have been attributed to higher vehicle speeds and increasingly higher volume of traffic on these roads,” the report stated. The total number of accidents on National Highways increased by 17.99 per cent, on State Highways increased by 10.69 per cent and on Other Roads increased by 8.23 per cent in 2022. 

Similarly, the total number of fatalities on National Highways increased by 8.98 per cent, on State Highways increased by 8.03 per cent and on other roads increased by 10.73 per cent in 2022. 

There has been an increase in the number of accidents, fatalities and injuries on three categories of roads in 2022 as compared to 2021, the report highlights. 

As per National Highway accidents data, Tamil Nadu retained its top position in 2022 for the fifth consecutive year with 18,972 accidents (12.5 per cent) followed by Kerala with 17,627 (11.6 per cent) accidents, Uttar Pradesh with 14,990 (9.9 per cent) accidents, Madhya Pradesh with 13,860 (9.1 per cent) accidents and Karnataka with 13,384 (8.8 per cent) accidents. 

Road accidents and road accident deaths took place in different categories of NH due to Traffic rule violation data revealed that 'over speeding' is the major cause for road accidents and deaths. 

In 2022, 72.4 per cent of accidents and 75.2 per cent of deaths were recorded due to 'over speeding'. The other major traffic rule violations are 'drunken driving/consumption of alcohol and drugs', 'jumping red light', 'driving on wrong side', 'use of mobile phones' etc. registered an increase in 2022 compared to 2021. 

However, the number of accidents and deaths due to traffic rule violation in 'Others' category showed an increase of 28.3 per cent and decrease of 14.4 per cent respectively, in 2022 relative to the same period last year.