Fatalities due to road accidents
#GS-02 Healthcare
For Prelims
Road accident deaths in India:
- As per Road Transport Ministry’s annual Road Accidents in India-2021 report, road accident deaths increased by 9% in 2021 from the 2019 figure.
- A total of 4,12,432 road accidents were reported in the country in 2021 which resulted in 1,53,972
- These numbers mean an average of 1,130 accidents and 422 deaths every day or 47 accidents and 18 deaths every hour.
Road Accidents by Age:
- Young adults who are in the 18-45 age group accounted for about 6% of victims during 2021.
- People who are in the working age group of 18-60 made up 5% of total road accident fatalities.
- Those who are under 18 totalled 5% of all road accident deaths, and those above 60 accounted for 6%.
Road accident severity
- Road accident severity means the number of persons killed per 100 accidents.
- Road accident severity increased to 37.3 in 2021 from 33.7 in 2019.
Causes of Fatalities
- The highest number of fatalities was due to being “hit from behind” as the cause of accidents, which accounted for 6% of the total road accident deaths.
- The second largest cause of death was due to “head-on collision”, which contributed to 7% of the total deaths.
- Some of the other major types of collision which caused deaths were “hit and run” (8%), and “hit from side” (11.9%).
- Of deaths due to violation of traffic rules, speeding was the largest cause of death, accounting for 6% of the fatalities.
- Driving on the wrong side of the road is the second largest cause of deaths at 2%.
- Other major traffic violations which caused deaths were use of mobile phones which contributed to 9% of the total road fatalities.
- Jumping traffic signal lights contributed to 5% of the total road fatalities.
States and Road Fatalities
- Uttar Pradesh accounts for the largest share of fatalities at 8%, followed by Tamil Nadu (10%), Maharashtra (8.8%), Madhya Pradesh (7.8%), and Rajasthan (6.5%).
- Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have seen a rise in their share of fatalities from the 2019 figure.
Source “After 2020 COVID blip, road fatalities on the rise“