Over speed killed most people on roads last year- Ministry report

The report published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways underlined that 67.3 per cent of total road accident deaths were caused by over-speed in 2019. The report titled 'Road Accidents in India-2019' confirms 4,49,002 road accidents reported in 2019 in which 1,51,113 people died and 4,51,361 people were injured.

The report also mentions that road accidents in India decreased by 3.86 per cent compared to 2018. It also claims the implementation of the Motor Vehicle Act 2019 could be the reason behind the decline of accidents and accident-related deaths.

Tamil Nadu had the highest number of road accidents (57,228) and highest number of accident deaths reported in Uttar Pradesh: 22,655. Out of the total accident deaths, 19.4 per cent were observed to be cases of 'hit and run', and two-wheelers made up 37.1 per cent of total deaths. Among Indian cities, Chennai had the highest number of accidents (6,871) followed by Delhi (5,610) and Bengaluru with 4,684 incidents.

International Road Federation positioned India in the third-place after United States and Japan in terms of a number of accidents and first place in the number of accident deaths. In order to bring down the number of cases, the ministry has formulated a comprehensive National Road Safety Strategy and launched the Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD) which will boost data-led road safety interventions to reduce accidents. IRAD is currently planned to be piloted in 6 states.