Over 1.6 Lakh Road Accidents' Death In 2022: Centre (Photo @Pixabay)
The Union Ministry For Road Transport and Highways on Wednesday revealed that road accidents across the country claimed over 1.6 Lakh lives in 2022 alone. Citing data collected from the police departments of States and Union Territories, Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari in a statement noted that approximately 1,68,491 fatalities were reported in the year.
The Ministry provided data regarding the number of deaths due to road accidents from 2018 to 2020, and notably, 2022 registered the highest fatalities. As per the data, 2018 documented around 1,57,593 deaths, 2019 around 1,58,984, 2020 around 1,38,383 and 2021 approximately 1,53,972 deaths. Though the ministry has not compiled specific data as per the nature of the death, it has classified the fatalities according to traffic rule violations during 2022.
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The data showed over-speeding as the major villain for the fatalities, with over 1.1 lakh deaths out of total 1.6 lakh were the result of excess speed while driving the vehicle. The second most reason for death associated with road accidents was the wrong side driving, with over 9000 lives lost due to the careless act. Then driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs took away at least 4,201. While mobile phone use constituted the fourth cause of death with over 3,000 lives lost, around 1,462 perished due to jumping on the wrong side. The rest of the deaths, around 1,68,491, were attributed to other reasons.
The ministry was responding to a query submitted by Rajya Sabha MP, Dr. Sasmit Patra. The BJD MP had sought the details of five-year data on road accidents, the efforts the government took to prevent them and the success it attained with its measures.
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Referring to the government’s plan to minimise causalities, the ministry said that it aims to reduce road fatalities and injuries by 50% by the year 2023. The ministry added that it has adopted a multi-pronged approach, including Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care to achieve its objective. Under the programme, various initiatives have been taken by the department.
Under the education initiative, the ministry administers the Road Safety Advocacy Scheme to provide financial assistance to various agencies for raising awareness about road safety. The road engineering initiative includes locating black and accident spot and rectifying it while the vehicle engineering consists of efforts to add safety arrangements among others.
Moreover, the ministry has issued strict rules and advisory to the concerned departments, ensuring the enforcement of measures through strict penalties. Referring to the emergency care, the ministry underlined that it has enhanced compensation of victims of Hit and Run motor accidents (from Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 50,000 for grievous hurt and from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 2,00,000 for death).
