Annual report on road accidents in India

On 19 Nov, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways released the annual report on road accidents in India. The report shows a daily average of 1,280 road crashes and 415 deaths. As per the report, more than 1.5 lakh people lost their lives in road crashes in the country in 2018, registering an increase of 2.4% as compared to the year before, when there were 1.47 lakh fatalities.

Among the States, Tamil Nadu (13.7%) topped the country in terms of the total number of road crashes, followed by Madhya Pradesh (11%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.1%). The highest road fatalities were observed In Uttar Pradesh (22,256), followed by Maharashtra (13,261) and Tamil Nadu (12,216). Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand were among the States that heavily slashed the penalties levied under the amended law. Geneva-based World Road Federation’s World Road Statistics 2018 reported that India is the most unsafe country in the world for road users across 199 countries. India is followed by China (63,000 deaths) and the U.S. (37,000 deaths).