In the year 2022, India experienced a significant uptick in both road accident fatalities, marking a 9.4 percent increase, and injuries, demonstrating a 15.3 percent rise. Additionally, the country observed an 11.9 percent surge in road accidents nationwide. This information emerges from a recent report issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
Within this context, the city of Bengaluru stood out as the location with the second-highest number of road accident fatalities, trailing only Delhi in this unfortunate statistic. Furthermore, Tamil Nadu reported the highest incidence of road accidents on National Highways.
The report from MoRTH delineated that Bengaluru bore the weight of 772 individuals losing their lives due to road accidents in 2022, a substantial increase from the 654 road fatalities recorded in 2021. Simultaneously, the city witnessed a considerable number of residents, 3,189 to be exact, suffering injuries on its roads, which have garnered notoriety for their poor condition.
On a contrasting note, Chennai managed to achieve a notable reduction in road accident fatalities, experiencing a remarkable 49 percent decline. In specific terms, the city recorded 507 road deaths in 2022, as opposed to the 998 fatalities registered in the preceding year. Despite this achievement, Tamil Nadu as a whole recorded the highest number of road accidents on National Highways in 2022, totaling a significant 64,105 cases.
Nationally, the aggregate figures for road accidents in 2022 reached 4,61,312 incidents, leading to 1,68,491 fatalities and 4,43,366 injuries. The report attributed speeding as the principal cause behind these accidents, with additional contributing factors including drunk driving and violations of traffic regulations. This situation underscores the pressing need for enhanced road safety measures and awareness campaigns to mitigate the rising toll of road accidents and their associated consequences.
