New Delhi: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has released a new report on road accidents in India. The figures of people who lost their lives in road accidents in the report are shocking. Road accidents kill 426 people per day or 18 every hour, the highest ever in any year. Last year close to 1.56 lakh deaths were registered in road accidents. This surpassed the number of people killed during the pre-pandemic of 2019. The data shows that reducing road deaths is a major challenge for the government.
According to a report in the Times of India, the increasing number of road accidents is a major concern. The data released by NCRB points to a worrying trend of a steady increase in the share of two-wheeler and pedestrian deaths in the country in recent years. The data shows that out of every 100 people killed in road accidents, at least 44 were two-wheeler riders. The total number of two-wheeler riders killed in road accidents stood at 69,240, which is an increase of 18 percent as compared to 2019.
Tamil Nadu has the highest number of deaths of two-wheeler riders
The death toll of two-wheeler riders in Tamil Nadu alone is about 12 percent of the total number of the country. It is followed by UP, where the figure is 10 percent. A comparative analysis of the data for the last four years shows that the share of deaths among two-wheeler drivers has increased from 35.7 percent in 2018 to 44.5 percent in 2021.
Despite the share of two-wheelers in the total number of wheelers remaining almost unchanged from 73 to 75 percent since 2014, the figures have registered an increase. In the absence of a robust public transport system, two-wheelers is still the most preferred and economical mode of transport in urban and rural areas. It may be noted that apart from enforcing the rules of wearing helmets, there is no other facility for the safety of the riders in two-wheelers.
The highest number of deaths recorded in road accidents in UP
3,73,884 people were injured and 1,73,860 people died in 2021 as a result of road accidents. After 24,711 deaths in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu with 16,685 deaths, and Maharashtra at 16,446 have recorded the highest number of road accident deaths in the country. Road accidents accounted for 14.2 percent, 9.6 percent, and 9.5 percent of the deaths in these three states, respectively.
