Road accidents claimed over 1.50 lakh lives, injured 3.84 lakh people in India in 2021: Transport Ministry Report

Road accidents in India: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Wednesday published the annual report on road accidents in India for the year 2021. According to the report, road accidents claimed over 1.50 lakh lives in India and caused injuries to more than 3.84 lakh persons in the year 2021.

"There were 4,12,432 unfortunate incidences of road accidents during 2021 which claimed 1,53,972 lives and caused injuries to 3,84,448 persons," said the official release.

The report titled ‘Road accidents in India -- 2021’, also said that major indicators related with accidents have performed better in 2021 when compared to 2019.

"Road accidents decreased by 8.1 percent and injuries decreased by 14.8 percent in 2021 compared to 2019. Fatalities, however, on accounts of road accidents increased by 1.9 percent in 2021 corresponding to the same period in 2019," said the report.

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It should be noted that during the previous year 2020, the country saw an unprecedented decrease in accidents, fatalities, and injuries. "This was due to the unusual outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and resultant stringent nation-wide lockdown particularly during March-April, 2020 followed by gradual unlocking and phasing out of the containment measures," the report further said.

This report is based on the data/information received from police departments of states/Union Territories collected on calendar year basis in standardized formats as provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) under the Asia Pacific Road Accident Data (APRAD) base project.

MoRTH's Scheme to reduce fatalities
India is committed to bring down fatalities caused by road accidents. In this direction, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, has implemented a scheme, “Grant of Financial Assistance for Administering Road Safely Advocacy and Awards for the Outstanding Work Done in the Field of Road Safety”.

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The Ministry, along with related organizations and stakeholders has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care.