E-Paper
Uttar Pradesh tops the list of fatal road accidents in India: Report
In 2020, 3,66,138 road accidents were reported by states/UTs, of which, 1,16,496 (31.82%) were on national highways; 47,984 (36.43%) people were killed and 1,09,898 (31.55%) were injured
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh has topped the list of total number of road accident deaths on national highways, besides maintaining its top position in the chart of the number of road accident fatalities in 2020 across the country, according to the report ‘Road Accidents in India 2020’ released by the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH).
In 2020, 3,66,138 road accidents were reported by states/UTs, of which, 1,16,496 (31.82%) were on national highways; 47,984 (36.43%) people were killed and 1,09,898 (31.55%) were injured.
“The fact that much of the 31.8% of the accidents, 36.4% of deaths and 31.6% of accidents-related injuries took place on national highways, which share only 2.1% of the total road network in the country, needs attention,” the report stated. “More accidents on the highways have been attributed to higher vehicle speeds and higher volume of traffic on these roads.”
UP alone, according to the report, accounted for 16.4% of the road accident deaths on national highways in India, followed by Maharashtra (7.4%) and Karnataka (6.9%); Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of accidents on national highways.
Tamil Nadu topped the list for the fifth consecutive year in terms of the number of accidents 15,269 (13.1%), followed by Uttar Pradesh with 13,695 (11.1%), Karnataka with 11,230 (9.6%), and Madhya Pradesh with 9,866 (9.6%).
The report mentioned that 7,859 persons were killed in 13,695 cases of road mishaps on highways in UP in 2020, making it the worst state in India in terms of fatal accidents.
The report also showed that 10,492 accidents took place in UP in the recorded year, killing 5,984 persons on national highways under NHAI, while 1,265 people died in 2,159 mishaps on national highways under PWD. On the national highways (expressways) under other departments, 610 people died in 1,044 accidents.
The Yogi Adityanath-run state also topped the list for reporting the highest number of deaths (5,825) on state highways in 2020, but in terms of the number of road accidents (10,555) on state highways, UP ranked third.
“Of the 19,149 road crash deaths reported by UP in 2020, 13,684 occurred on national and state highways. Poor road engineering and large-scale violations of traffic rules are two of the biggest reasons why the state is ranked as number one in road crash fatalities,” Piyush Tewari, founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, pointed out.
“Issues such as gaps in the median on the national highways, untreated intersections, and missing crash barriers are some of the biggest engineering issues that we have encountered in UP. Driver violations such as wrong-side driving, wrong lane usage by heavy vehicles, and mass violation of traffic lights are the biggest behavioural issues found in UP,” he added.
Tewari suggested that a detailed audit should be undertaken of all major roads and violations should be curbed.
