India’s poor road safety sees increasing deaths

Official statistics from India paint a poor picture for road safety, with road deaths increasing. During 2015 there were around 146,000 reported deaths from road crashes in the country, an average of 400/day and an increase of 5% from the previous year. Road crashes increased by 2.5% to around 501,000 in 2015. The actual casualty figure for India may be significantly higher however as many road deaths go unreported. Capital Delhi saw 1,622 road deaths during 2015 the greatest number for any city, althoug
June 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Official statistics from India paint a poor picture for road safety, with road deaths increasing. During 2015 there were around 146,000 reported deaths from road crashes in the country, an average of 400/day and an increase of 5% from the previous year. Road crashes increased by 2.5% to around 501,000 in 2015. The actual casualty figure for India may be significantly higher however as many road deaths go unreported.

Capital Delhi saw 1,622 road deaths during 2015 the greatest number for any city, although Mumbai suffered from more road crashes, with 23,468. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu were the most dangerous for road crashes. Kerala has figured highly in India’s road crash rate for many years with its narrow and twisty mountain roads seeing a particularly high proportion of fatal incidents.

Of concern is that people aged 15-34 accounted for 54.1% of those killed in road crashes. Driver error was a major cause of 77.1% of the crashes, with speeding being one of the prime problems.

Related Content

  • Increase in US pedestrian deaths in 2022
    March 8, 2023
    New data shows an increase in US pedestrian deaths in 2022.
    Read More
  • Malaysia road dangers highlighted by fatalities
    November 1, 2016
    Malaysia’s road safety record is worsening with an increase in road fatalities in 2015. There were 6,706 road deaths in Malaysia during 2015, compared with 6,674 in 2014. The country has been taking some measures to reduce the casualty toll but has not managed to halt the increase in road deaths/year. In 2015 the number of road crashes reached 489,606, growing by 2.8% compared with 2014. Of the road deaths in 2015, 62% (3,816) were of powered two wheeler riders (387 deaths were of pillion riders). The in
    Read More
  • India’s road to safety
    September 5, 2012
    India's growth rate is the envy of the world, and its infrastructure is rapidly improving, but its road safety record is the world's worst. Patrick Smith reports on a conference aimed at finding answers to the problems Ambling through the gardens and marble magnificence that is the Taj Mahal or gazing down on the city of Jaipur from the hilltop Jaigarh Fort is far removed from the world outside.
    Read More
  • UK road deaths increasing for 2016
    November 3, 2016
    Worrying figures have been revealed regarding the UK’s road casualty rate for the last 12 months year ending on June 2016. There were 1,800 reported road fatalities during this period, a 2% increase from the 1,770 recorded for the previous year. However, this increase may come from a combination of factors that have come about by chance, rather than any specific change. The killed or seriously injured casualties (KSIs) increased by 3% to 24,620 compared with the year ending June 2015. This change is s
    Read More

Highlighted Content