India’s roads are a paradox. They represent an enormous and growing opportunity to commute and connect, to transport and travel. They go hand in hand with the country’s modernisation and impressive economic progress. In this context, India has some of the greatest opportunities to build a strong road safety management framework, with strong helmet producers, car manufacturers, big tech and large road investments. And yet, as in many countries, they are also the source of a silent but deadly pandemic.
Each year, a staggering 3,00,000 people are estimated to be killed on the road in India, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO). That is equivalent to more than 34 people every hour of every day. And that is a conservative estimate. The number of people suffering life-altering injuries in road crashes is exponentially higher even than that. Beyond human suffering, there is a serious economic toll: In India, road crashes are estimated to cost between 5% and 7% of national GDP.
India, and the wider region in which it sits, is far from alone. Road safety is a global problem, with 1.3 million people killed in road crashes every year. But almost one in every four road deaths around the world takes place in India.
