Road accidents decreased by 4.1% in 2016, fatalities rise by 3.2%

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Road accidents in the country decreased by around 4.1%  during  2016 with the year seeing 4,80,652 road accidents as against 5,01,423 in 2015.  However,  fatalities resulting from these accidents have risen by about 3.2% during the same period. Nearly 1,50,785 persons were killed in 2016 as against 1,46,133 in 2015.

Releasing the Ministry’s annual publication ‘Road Accidents in India-2016 on September 6, 2017, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari said that while the accident and fatality figures still leave a lot to be desired in the matter of ensuring road safety, the trends are   encouraging.   Road Accidents in India- 2016 is a compilation of data on various facets of road accidents as furnished by Police Departments of all States/U.Ts for the calendar year 2016.

Gadkari also informed that the positive trend of 2016 is further bolstered by the accident figures for the first half of 2017, where there has been a 3 % reduction in road accidents between January and July 2017, along with a 4.75 % reduction in road accident fatalities. While road accidents have come down from 2,43,870 between January and July 2016 to 2,36,458 during the same period in 2017, fatalities have come down from 79,354 between January and July 2016 to 75,583 during the same period in 2017, according to a PIB release. Road accidents deaths have reduced in 25 states and Union Territories in the first half of 2017.  Only states like Assam, Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh seen increase in road accident fatalities between 2-8 % during this period.

During 2016, 13 States accounted for 86 % of the total road accidents in the country. They are Tamil Nadu, MP, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, UP, AP, Rajasthan, Telangana, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Haryana. Similarly, 13 States accounted for 84 % of the total persons killed in road accidents during 2016. They are UP, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, MP, AP, Gujarat, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana and Bihar, according to the PIB release.