NCRB report: Deaths in road accidents up by 17%

Total road accidents reported was 4.03 lakh in 2021, up from 3.54 lakh the year before.

But the 2021 accident numbers were significantly lower than those in 2019, when 4.37 lakh mishaps had been recorded, killing 1.54 lakh people.

As in previous years, two-wheelers accounted for most deaths (44.5%). Buses accounted for 3% of deaths in accidents.

Speeding caused 87,000 deaths, accounting for over half of all deaths, while dangerous and careless driving was attributed as cause for 42,000 deaths, the report stated.

The maximum increase in number of traffic accident cases from 2020 to 2021 was reported in Tamil Nadu (from 46,443 to 57,090), followed by Madhya Pradesh (from 43,360 to 49,493), Uttar Pradesh (from 30,593 to 36,509), Maharashtra (from 24,908 to 30,086), and Kerala (from 27,998 to 33,051).

“These traffic accidents resulted in injuries to 3,73,884 people and 1,73,860 deaths during 2021. Uttar Pradesh (24,711 deaths) followed by Tamil Nadu (16,685 deaths) and Maharashtra (16,446 deaths) have reported maximum fatalities in traffic accidents in the country,” the report

In Railways, 17,993 accidents were reported in 2021, up from 13,018 a year before, causing injuries to 1,852 persons and 16,431 deaths in 2021, the report mentioned.