– Sahar Khan
The percentage shares of accidents and deaths by different road users categories on the National Highways are not much different as compared to total road networks.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) data, two-wheelers accounted for 41.5 percent of the total accident deaths on National Highways followed by cars, taxis, vans and LMVs reckoning 19.1 percent while others like pedestrians (13.5 %), trucks ((%), buses (3.5 %) and bicycles (2%).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) report issued in December last year has cited India as having recorded road accidents with a 15 percent increase in road deaths while the road traffic casualties have dropped by 5 percent globally between 2010 and 2021 with as many as 108 UN member nations reporting a decline.
The MoRTH has been observing the National Road Safety Week across the country for the past 35 years and for the second time there will be Observance of ‘National Road Safety Month’ from January 15 to February 14 this year. The last time the Road Safety Month was observed was in 2022.
The MoRTH has asked all the stakeholders, including state governments and union terrorises to observe National Road Safety Month to sensitise citizens and road users about the severity of challenges of road safety.
“All the stakeholders were advised to organise Road Safety activities, including training, workshops, seminars, eye check-up camps and advocacy programmes for road users particularly drivers and school children, etc. during the given duration of the safety month,” stated the official circular of Road Safety Cell of MoRTH.
The endeavour is aimed to immensely contribute to achieve the target of reduction of road accident deaths and injuries in the country.
The MoRTH statistics mentioned that among the states, Tamil Nadu with 64105 accidents (3.9 %) recorded the highest number of road accidents in 2022 followed by Madhya Pradesh (11.8 %). Uttar Pradesh (13.4 %) topped the states in respect of the number of fatalities due to road accidents followed by Tamil Nadu (10.6 %).
