New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) The number of road accidents in India went up by 4.2 percent to over 4.8 lakh in 2023, resulting in the death of 20 persons every hour, according to a report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
The report showed that 55 road accidents take place every hour in the country.
“A total number of 480,583 road accidents have been reported by Police Departments of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the country during the calendar year 2023, claiming 172,890 lives and causing injuries to 462,825 persons,” the report titled ‘Road accidents in India 2023’ said.
For the fourth consecutive year in 2023, the report said the fatal road accident victims largely constitute young people in the productive age groups.
“Young adults in the age group of 18–45 years accounted for 66.4 percent of victims during 2023.
“People in the working age group of 18–60 years share 83.4 percent of total road accident fatalities,” it said.
According to the report, during 2023, a total of 480,583 accidents were recorded in the country, of which 150,177 (31.2 percent) took place on the National Highways (NH), including expressways; 105,622 (22.0 percent) on State Highways (SH) and the remaining 224,744 (46.8 percent) on other roads.
Out of the total of 172,890 fatalities reported in 2023, the report said 63,112 (36.5 percent) were on National Highways, 39,439 (22.8 percent) were on State Highways, and 70,339 (40.7 percent) were on other roads.
Out of the total 160,509 fatal accidents reported in 2023, 57,467 (35.8 percent) were on National Highways, 36,595 (22.8 percent) on State Highways, and 66,447 (41.4 percent) were reported on other roads.
Amongst the states, the report said Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of road accidents on National Highways in 2023, whereas the number of persons killed in road accidents was the highest in Uttar Pradesh.
The report noted that road accidents are multi-causal and are often the result of the interplay of various factors like human error, road environment, and vehicular condition.
In 2023, under the category of traffic rule violations, overspeeding was a major killer, accounting for 68.1 percent of the persons killed, followed by driving on the wrong side (5.5 percent).
In respect of neighborhood categories, it revealed that 45.87 percent of accidents, 53.64 percent of deaths, and 46.28 percent of injuries occurred in open areas, i.e., locations that normally do not have any human activities in the vicinity.
Under the road feature category, the report said 67 percent of accidents took place on straight roads, whereas accidents on curved roads, pothole roads, and steep grades together accounted for only 14.47 percent of the total road accidents in 2023.
Among vehicle categories involved in road accidents, for the third consecutive year, two-wheelers accounted for the highest share in total accidents and fatalities during 2023.
Light vehicles comprising cars, jeeps, and taxis together come second.
“In terms of road-user categories, the share of two-wheeler riders in total fatalities has been the highest (44.8 percent) during 2023, followed by the pedestrian road users with 20.4 percent of persons killed in road accidents.
The report ‘Road accidents in India – 2023’ provides information on various facets of road accidents in the country during the calendar year 2023.
Data/information provided in this report are sourced from police departments of states/Union Territories collected on a calendar year basis in standardized formats as provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) under the Asia Pacific Road Accident Data (APRAD) base project. PTI BKS HVA HVA
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