India records highest-ever road accident deaths in 2022

With 122 deaths per million people, or the highest rate since at least 1970, on Indian roads in 2022, it was the worst year for accidents since records began.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued the “Road Accidents in India 2022” report on Tuesday. It shows that following a decline during the lockdown-affected years of 2020 and 2021, road accidents in India surged 11.9% to 4,61,312 last year. There were 9.4% and 15.3% more fatalities and injuries, totaling 168,491 and 443,366 people, respectively. With 122 deaths per million people, 2022 will go down in history as the worst year for traffic misfortune. This is the highest rate since at least 1970, the earliest year for which the study has statistics.

The number of traffic misfortune increased by 11.9% in 2022, the most since at least 2005—the earliest year for which the data, which was made public on Tuesday, provides the total number of accidents. Nonetheless, the reason for this significant annual rise in traffic misfortune is the drop in misfortune in 2020 and 2021, when lockdowns probably caused traffic to reduce more quickly than normal. From 2016, the number of accidents have been declining over time. As a result, there will be fewer misfortune in 2022 than there were in every year from 2007 to 2018 and less than 1% more than there were in 2019, the year before the pandemic.

The pattern of road misfortune injuries and misfortune frequency was similar. The third-lowest number of injuries since 2005 occurred (the lowest numbers occurred in 2020 and 2021). Since 2016, this statistic has likewise been declining in accordance with the pattern in the number of accidents.

According to the figures above, there was no need to be concerned about the sheer quantity of traffic accidents in 2022. Nonetheless, both in absolute terms and when population-adjusted, the number of fatalities from traffic misfortune was at an all-time high. Increasingly deadly traffic accidents are also a part of a long-term trend in India that was only momentarily halted by the epidemic.

At 122 per million, the number of people killed in accidents in 2022 was the highest since at least 1970, the earliest year for which the study has statistics. In 2019, 104 in 2020, and 113 in 2021, this number was recorded. Comparably, the percentage of fatal traffic misfortune (33.8%) was the third highest compared to 2020 and 2021. Undoubtedly, even though the number was larger in 2020 and 2021, there were still fewer deaths overall and fewer deaths per million people since there were fewer accidents in those years.

Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh were the three largest states with the highest number of road accident deaths per lakh of population among the 21 states. In 2021, they were also the deadliest. Conversely, Haryana dropped from fourth to fifth place while Karnataka moved up from seventh place to fourth. By this measure, West Bengal, Delhi, Bihar, Assam, and Uttarakhand continued to be the lowest three states.

The report also includes a summary of the causes of traffic accidents and the people who died as a result. This demonstrates that the primary cause of both accidents and deaths stemming from them, accounting for 72% of incidents and 71% of deaths, was still speeding. Subsequently, the miscellaneous “others” category accounted for 18% of both accidents and fatalities; driving on the incorrect side of the road or lane indiscipline contributed roughly 5%; driving while intoxicated accounted for 2.2% of accidents and 2.5% of fatalities; using a mobile phone accounted for 1.6% of accidents and 2% of fatalities; and jumping red lights comprised the remaining 1%. These figures are similar to those from 2021.

Using statistics from the International Road Federation (IRF), the paper also contrasts India’s road accident death rate with the top 20 nations with the greatest total number of fatalities. This demonstrates that India was placed 10th out of 21 nations in terms of the number of fatalities per million people. To be clear, the information in this table (which comes from the IRF’s 2022 study) for India does not match the information from the previous MoRTH report. It displays a statistic from 2006 that indicates 95 persons per million inhabitants in India die in traffic accidents. The same table displays India’s overall road accident death toll of 131,714; this number was last recorded in MoRTH statistics in 2010 and again in 2020.

According to Piyush Tewari, the founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, an Indian non-profit organization that promotes road safety and emergency medical treatment, there are four reasons why the severity of traffic accidents is on the rise. First, he stated, “Many victims in India do not receive competent trauma care after the crash occurs.” He said, “To come together to save a person’s life, a systemic approach is necessary.” Second, the probability of a collision increases exponentially with speed. He said, “The better road surfaces on the highways are the reason behind the rise in overspeeding.” Third, the general public cannot purchase safer, crash-tested cars. The safety requirements for cars used by the general public must be raised. Fourth, with increasing speeds on the highway, there needs to be a commensurate increase in the road safety infrastructure like crash barriers, said Tewari.

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