India Witnesses Alarming Increase in Road Accidents, Report Reveals
New Delhi – The number of road accidents in India has risen by a staggering 12% to over 4.6 lakh in 2022, resulting in the death of 19 individuals every hour, according to a report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The report highlights that 53 road accidents occur every hour in the country.
The report, titled ‘Road Accidents in India – 2022’, states, “A total of 4,61,312 road accidents have been reported by states and Union Territories (UTs) during the calendar year 2022, which claimed 1,68,491 lives and caused injuries to 4,43,366 individuals. This marks an increase of 11.9% in accidents, 9.4% in fatalities, and 15.3% in injuries compared to the previous year.”
Shockingly, the report reveals that young adults between the ages of 18 and 45 accounted for 66.5% of the victims in 2022. Furthermore, individuals within the working age group of 18 to 60 years constituted 83.4% of the total road accident fatalities.
In response to these alarming statistics, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has set a target to reduce the number of accidents and resulting deaths by half by 2024.
During 2022, a total of 1,68,491 road accident fatalities were reported by states/UTs, surpassing the previous year’s figure of 1,53,972. The report also reveals that out of the 4,61,312 recorded accidents, 32.9% occurred on National Highways, including expressways, 23.1% on state highways, and the remaining 43.9% on other roads.
Two-wheelers once again accounted for the highest share in total accidents and fatalities, with light vehicles such as cars, jeeps, and taxis coming in second. When examining road-user categories, two-wheeler riders represented the highest share of fatalities at 44.5%, followed by pedestrian road-users at 19.5%.
Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of road accidents on National Highways in 2022, while Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of fatalities due to road accidents. “Tamil Nadu with 64,105 accidents (13.9%) recorded the highest number of road accidents in 2022 followed by Madhya Pradesh (54,432 i.e., 11.8%). Uttar Pradesh (22,595 i.e., 13.4%) topped the states in respect of the number of fatalities due to road accidents, followed by Tamil Nadu (17,884 i.e., 10.6%),” the report states.
Over-speeding was identified as the major killer, accounting for 71.2% of the fatalities in 2022, followed by driving on the wrong side at 5.4%. Additionally, the report found that 47.7% of accidents, 55.1% of deaths, and 48.2% of injuries occurred in open areas where there are typically no human activities nearby.
The report also reveals that the total number of fatal road accidents increased from 1,42,163 in 2021 to 1,55,781 in 2022, indicating a 9.6% increase compared to the same period the previous year. The most common types of accidents resulting in deaths were ‘Hit from Back’ (19.5%), followed by ‘Hit and Run’ (18.1%) and ‘Head-on Collision’ (15.7%).
The annual report is based on data provided by the police departments of states/UTs in standardized formats as required by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) under the Asia Pacific Road Accident Data (APRAD) base project.
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