NCRB report on Road Accident

In September 2020, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has released the annual report on Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) for the year 2019.

Key highlights

According to the report, road crash deaths in the country have increased by 1.3 per cent to 1,54,732 from 1,52,780. Road traffic injuries constitute the 8th leading cause of death in India. The annual accident report of 2019 also revealed that out of the total 154,732 people killed in road crash deaths in 2019, 65 per cent were youth of 18 to 45 years. Children below the age of 14 years contribute to about 2.6 per cent of all fatalities

As per the report analysis carried out by the SaveLIFE Foundation, among the States,

• Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest road crash deaths with 23,285 deaths (15 per cent of total deaths in 2019).
• This was followed by Maharashtra which recorded 14608 deaths (9.4 per cent)
• Madhya Pradesh stood third with 11856 deaths (7.7 per cent).
• Additionally, in terms of crashes, road accidents (67,228 cases) accounted for 97.3 per cent of total traffic accidents in 53 mega cities during 2019.
• Chennai accounted for 10.2 per cent (6,871 out of 67,228 cases) of total road accidents reported in 53 mega cities, followed by Delhi (8.0 per cent or 5,349 cases).

Concerns

India continues to see a rise in road crash fatalities even though State governments are yet to fully implement the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act 2019, which was passed with the intent of reducing road crash deaths.

Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 is based on the recommendations of the Group of Transport Ministers (GoM) of States constituted by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to address the issue of road safety and to improve the access of the citizens while dealing with transport departments. The amendments in the Bill focus on issues relating to improving road safety, citizens’ facilitation while dealing with the transport department, strengthening rural transport, last mile connectivity and public transport, automation and computerization and enabling online services.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2020