Over 20% of India's road accidents in 2022 took place between 6 and 9 pm: Govt report

Of the 4,61,312 road accidents reported in India in 2022 that killed 1,68,491 people, a total of 94,009 were reported between 6 and 9 pm, according to official data.

This three-hour period accounted for over 20 per cent of the total accidents in the country, said a report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

The six hours from midnight till 6 am saw the least number of accidents.

"In 2022, the time interval between 18:00-21:00 hrs recorded maximum number (94,009) of road accidents, accounting for 20.4 per cent of the total accidents in the country,” the report said.

This pattern was seen over the past five years.

States and Union Territories reported 4,61,312 road accidents in 2022, leaving 1,68,491 people dead and injuring 4,43,366.

According to the report, 79,639 road accidents were reported from 3 pm to 6 pm, constituting 17.3 per cent of the total.

Mizoram, Bihar

Mizoram (85) recorded the highest accident severity, followed by Bihar (82.4) and Punjab (77.5) in 2022.

Road accident severity measured by the number of persons killed per 100 accidents had slightly decreased to 36.5 in 2022 from 37.3 in 2021.

Sikkim (17) recorded the highest fatality rate, followed by Bihar (9) in 2022, the report said, adding that about half the states had a fatality rate above the national average of 5.2 in 2022.

The fatality rate is used to explain road accidents relative to vehicular population in the country. It is measured by the number of road accident fatalities per 10,000 vehicles.

Two-wheelers, with a share of 44.5 per cent, constitute the largest number of road accident deaths at 74,897 -- 7.9 per cent higher than in 2021.

Pedestrians are the next highest victims of road accidents with a share of 19.5 per cent in 2022.

(With agency inputs)