The expansion of the country’s road network, including expressways, and an increase in vehicle ownership continue to spur a rise in fatalities due to road accidents, with the severity of crashes worsening significantly over the last decade, according to government data.
India witnessed 53 accidents and 19 deaths every hour, or an average of 1,264 accidents and 42 deaths daily due to road crashes last year, according to a Ministry of Road Transport and Highways report released on Wednesday. There were a total 4,61,312 road accidents across the country, which claimed as many as 1,68,491 lives. The number of road accidents in 2022 increased by 11.9% and deaths rose by 9.4%.
The severity of road crashes, measured by the number of people killed per 100 accidents, has increased over the past decade from 28.2% in 2012 to 36.5% in 2022, with a consistent increase every year. In 2020 and 2021, however, when road crashes and deaths due to them registered an absolute decline due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, the severity rate had spiked above 37%.
