The rise in road accidents in India has led the government to prioritize behavioural change, stronger enforcement, and improved infrastructure as key solutions.
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Addressing this year’s World Safety Conference, the Union Road Transport Minister vented his frustration at the surprisingly widespread traffic violations on India’s roads despite the amendments in the Motor Vehicle Act in 2019 to hike prescribed fines for traffic violations. While the amendment expected to bring down traffic violations by financially hurting the violators, no significant dent has been made in the volume of infringements. Instead, road fatalities have increased compared to 2019. The failure of intended consequences of upward revision of fines has convinced the minister that merely increasing penalties is only marginally consequential in addressing the issue.
He now believes that the solution lies in behavioural change by pressing the services of social and educational organisations. He proposed that given the 50,029 people who lost their lives in 2022 for not using the helmet, the two-wheeler manufacturers may offer helmets ab initio at discounted rates. The minister’s additional observations were that the lack of lane discipline on Indian roads was responsible for preventing an increase in the maximum speed limit on access-controlled expressways.
The failure of intended consequences of upward revision of fines has convinced the minister that merely increasing penalties is only marginally consequential in addressing the issue.
The Annual Report 2023-24 of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) shares accident figures during the calendar year 2022. During the year, 461,312 accidents caused injuries to 443,366 persons and killed 168,491 people. The year 2005 recorded 94,968 fatalities. Over 17 years, there has been a 177 percent increase in deaths. This trend sharply contrasted with global road deaths, which showed a decline. MORTH figures revealed that two-wheelers were involved in 44.5 percent of road deaths in 2022. Pedestrians who lost their lives made up 19.5 percent, light motor vehicles 12.5 percent, heavy vehicles 6.3 percent, autorickshaws 3.9 percent, bicycles 2.9 percent and buses 2.4 percent, with others accounting for 8 percent.
The national highways and expressways accounted for 39.2 percent of road accidents and 36.2 percent of deaths. The state highways shared 23.1 percent of crashes and 24.3 percent fatalities. The rest of the roads accounted for 43.9 percent of accidents and 39.4 percent of deaths. Tamil Nadu had the dubious distinction of the highest number of accidents, Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of persons killed, and over-speeding stood as the major accident culprit, responsible for 72.3 per cent of all road accidents and 71.2 per cent of deaths in 2022. Driving on the wrong side led to 5.4 percent of fatalities. Strikingly, 67 percent of accidents happened on straight roads. Accidents on curved, steep and potholed roads accounted for a mere 13.8 percent of accidents. Sadly, young people in the age group of 18-45 years made up 66.5 percent of victims, and those in the working age group of 18 to 60 years were involved in an overwhelming 83.4 percent of road fatalities.
MORTH report also provides data on accidents in 50 of India’s million-plus cities. They accounted for 16.6 percent of all road accidents and 10.1 percent of all road deaths. This was significantly higher than in the earlier years. Besides, the top 10 million-plus cities accounted for 46 percent of all road accidents in all million-plus cities. Delhi topped the list of accidents, followed by Indore and Jabalpur. Amritsar, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur had the least number of accidents. The causes of accidents broadly matched the all-India trend. However, in the context that India’s million-plus cities hold a little above 40 percent of the country’s population, urban roads emerge much safer.
The top 10 million-plus cities accounted for 46 percent of all road accidents in all million-plus cities.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) releases the Global status report on road safety each year. The latest report lists the top causes of road accidents as speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive substances, non-use of motorcycle helmets, seat belts and child restraints, distractions such as using mobile phones while driving, unsafe road infrastructure, unsafe vehicles, inadequate post-crash care and inadequate law enforcement of traffic laws.
All the global reasons hold in the Indian context. As cited above, the causes of road accidents are led by ‘over speeding’, followed by drunken driving and distracted driving. Some other causes include deficits in road engineering, the sudden appearance of potholes, over-aged vehicles and overloading. However, there are other causes peculiar to local behaviour. These include driving on the wrong side of the road, listed as the second biggest cause of accidents (4.9 percent), jumping a red light (0.9 percent of accidents) and making human errors in a rush to move ahead. The minister’s observations on road indiscipline in India thus hold true. To address these issues, it's crucial to launch public awareness campaigns that educate people about the dangers of these behaviours and promote responsible road behaviour.
At the very outset, one needs to recognise the stellar work done in the country regarding the expansion of road infrastructure. India’s total road length in the country, comprising national highways, state highways, district roads, rural roads, urban roads and project roads, has risen by 1,583 percent from 3,99,942 km in 1951 to 63,31,757 km in 2019. The growth in road length has been somewhat matched by the rise in motor vehicles. In 2003, this number was 67,007. In 2022, it stood at 3,54,018—an increase of 528 percent. The largest share was of two-wheelers, from 47,519 to 263,378—a rise of 555 percent. There has also been significant improvement in road quality, especially of national highways and state highways. Secondly, the quality of vehicles from a safety perspective stands reasonably upgraded. Light motor vehicles are now equipped with the necessary safety airbags.
It's important to note that road accidents not only result in loss of life and property but also have a significant impact on the economy, due to factors such as increased healthcare costs, loss of productivity, and damage to infrastructure.
However, with more roads, more vehicles and a growing population, a larger presence of people and vehicles on roads would result in a larger number of accidents. This, combined with high levels of road delinquencies witnessed on the roads, makes it a potent combination for accidents. It's important to note that road accidents not only result in loss of life and property but also have a significant impact on the economy, due to factors such as increased healthcare costs, loss of productivity, and damage to infrastructure.
What should draw the attention of governments is that national and state highways constitute a mere 5 percent of all roads and yet are responsible for 62.3 percent of accidents and 60.5 percent of all deaths. Here, the four universally agreed elements that play a significant role in crash fatalities should be pressed into service with utmost priority if a dent is to be made in India’s road accidents. These elements are education, enforcement, engineering and emergency care. While education should be universally attempted, special care should be prioritised to eliminate any engineering deficits and black spots on national and state highways. Additionally, the government should concentrate on the adequate provision of emergency services and emergency care. These comprise the provision of advanced life support ambulances and quick evacuation of the injured to hospitals and trauma care centres near all accident hotspots. The private sector should be encouraged to build accident-centric hospitals at the most necessary and accessible points along these highways. The government should provide all possible assistance in their facilitation. Finally, enforcement needs to be strengthened on these roads. Possibly, instead of raising the fines, other enforcement strategies with greater deterrence value should target speeding, drunken driving, and driving on the wrong side of the road—key factors resulting in deaths. Detaining vehicles for a period and even imprisonment in extreme cases should be employed. Until a significant reduction in road accidents and deaths is achieved, no thought should be given to further revising speed limits on national highways and expressways upwards. Given the situation on Indian roads, the minister’s penchant for higher speed limits appears entirely misplaced.
Ramanath Jha is a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation
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Dr. Ramanath Jha is Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai. He works on urbanisation — urban sustainability, urban governance and urban planning. Dr. Jha belongs ...
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