Road accidents have always seen an increase over the years and two wheeler account for the highest number of accidents and deaths in India, according to the latest report of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The Ministry said that 37 per cent of the deaths in road accidents in 2019 were that of two wheeler. When 17 per cent of deaths were that of pedestrians, three per cent of cyclists were killed on the road, the report said.
Among the accidents, the report pointed out that over speeding accounted for the maximum share of road accident and deaths. It accounted for about 74 road accidents and 70 per cent of deaths. Apart from over speeding the report states that wrong side driving and drunken driving are the two villains. They together count for about 12 per cent of accidents and ten per cent of deaths.
With respect to pedestrians killed, the report said that 25,858 persons were killed n 2019. It said that most of the pedestrians were killed by two wheeler, which is calculated to about 26.8 per cent of all deaths. While Cars, Vans, Taxis and LMVs led to 25 per cent of depths, Trucks and Lorries accounted for 16.7 deaths.
Cars, Taxis, LMVs and Vans led to 22.7 per cent deaths of cyclists, the Ministry said. IT also said that Lorries and trucks were responsible for 19.1 per cent deaths of cyclists and Two Wheelers 22.4 per cent.
The Ministry also mentioned that “hit and run” accounted for the largest share of 19.4 per cent of the total persons killed. This was an increase of 2.6 per cent over the previous year. “Hit from the Back” accounted for nearly 18.4 per cent of the total persons killed. Apart from this, Head on collision” resulted in the death of 17.7 per cent of the total deaths.
With respect to age, the Ministry in the report pointed out that young people in the age groups of 18 – 25, 25 – 35 and 35 – 45 accounted for the maximum deaths. 2019 saw about 70 per cent of the deaths in the 18-45 age groups, the report said.
Other findings
An average of 1,230 accidents and 414 deaths occurred every day
Nearly 51 accidents and 17 deaths every hour
Road accidents in India kill almost 1.5 lakh people annually.
Tamil Nadu recorded highest number of road accidents (57,228)
Uttar Pradesh accounted for the highest number of deaths (22,655).
Coimbatore ranked first in road accidents (6871) and number of persons injured (6702)
Delhi ranks first in number of fatalities (1,463).
National Highways accounted for 30.6 per cent of total road accidents and 35.7 per cent of deaths
State Highways accounted for 24.3 percent and 25.5 percent of accidents and fatalities
