NEW DELHI: Every fifth death in road accidents was a pedestrian and 45% of all fatalities were those riding two-wheelers in 2023. In a first official statement, Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said“over 1.72 lakh people died” in road crashes last year and around 35,000 of them were pedestrians.
At an event in Lucknow, the minister said nearly five lakh crashes are registered annually and last year around 10,000 of the persons killed were below 18 years and approximately 35,000 road accidents were reported in areas outside schools and colleges (institutional areas). “Around 54,000 deaths were due to non-wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders, 16,000 died for not wearing seatbelts and 12,000 were killed due to overloading of vehicles. Around 34,000 accidents were caused involving drivers without valid licence,” the minister said.
Neither the road transport ministry nor National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) have released the reports of road and accidental deaths of last year. TOI on October 19 had first reported how 2023 recorded the maximum road fatalities (nearly 1.73 lakh) with Uttar Pradesh topping among states and UTs, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Gadkari said the highest number of road accident deaths in the world occurs in India and out of this, the maximum number of deaths are recorded in UP. “There were 44,000 road accidents in UP and 23,650 persons were killed. Of these, 1,800 deaths are those below 18 years and 10,000 are of pedestrians and two-wheeler riders. There were 8,726 deaths due to speeding in UP,” he added.
The minister said road crashes are rising despite efforts to minimise them because people neither have respect nor fear for the law. “There are many reasons for accidents, but the biggest reason is human behavior. It’s also true that there are potholes on roads, there are not enough underpasses and foot over bridges. We have identified the black spots and these are being rectified on the National Highway by spending about Rs 40,000 crore. There are many state highways and district roads. It concerns the state govts as well. The cause of the accidents can be found and rectified,” Gadkari said.
On the rising pedestrian deaths, road safety expert Rohit Baluja said, “The one major factor missing in our road development and traffic management is the traffic engineering. We are definitely making roads, but not managing them and pedestrians have no sense of safety. The authorities must understand that road users’ habits are formed based on traffic engineering.”
Responding to questions from students about the need for a mandatory curriculum on road safety in schools, the minister said that they are trying to ensure the state govts include “Rules of the Road”. Welcoming the move, former chief of International Road Federation K K Kapila said, “We have been suggesting this to the govt. Making children aware about rules of the road and safe behavior will help check road deaths.