Traffic accidents: 1.73 lakh deaths in India in 2021; UP, TN report highest

As many as 1.73 lakh people lost their lives in around 4.22 lakh traffic accidents in the country in 2021 with Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest number of deaths in such mishaps at 24,711 deaths followed by Tamil Nadu which recorded 16,685 deaths.

According to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of traffic accidents in the country increased from 3,68,828 in 2020 to 4,22,659 in 2021.

Also read: Potholes caused over 5,000 deaths, shows 2018-2020 road accidents data

These traffic accidents comprise 4,03,116 road accidents, 17,993 railway accidents and 1,550 railway crossing accidents. They caused 1,55,622, 16,431 and 1,807 deaths respectively during 2021.

The maximum increase in number of traffic accident cases in states 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 said.

These three states accounted for 14.2%, 9.6% and 9.5% of total deaths in traffic accidents respectively and collectively accounted for 33.3% (57,842 out of 1,73,860) of total fatalities reported at all India level during 2021.

Also read: More than 1,500 people killed in accidents on Mumbai-Goa highway in 10 years: Maha minister

The percentage share of traffic accidental deaths in total deaths due to ‘Other Causes’ has decreased from 45.1% in 2017 to 44.5% in 2021.

A rising trend was seen in the total number of deaths in traffic accidents from 2017 to 2019 with a sharp decline in 2020, which again increased in 2021 but this number is less than that in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The total number of accidental deaths has increased by 18.8% (from 1,46,354 to 1,73,860) in 2021 over 2020.

A total of 4,03,116 road accident cases were reported in 2021. Road accident cases in the country have increased from 3,54,796 in 2020 to 4,03,116 in 2021.

The fatalities in road accidents have increased by 16.8% – from 1,33,201 in 2020 to 1,55,622 in 2021.

The NCRB report said that the rate of deaths per thousand vehicles in 2021 increased from 0.45 in 2020 to 0.53 in 2021.

The 4,03,116 road accidents caused 1,55,622 deaths and injuries to 3,71,884 persons during 2021.

Also read: Scientific nationwide speed mgmt required to reduce fatal road accidents: IIT KGP

According to the report, 44.5% of victims of road accidents were riders of two-wheelers followed by cars, trucks/lorries and buses have accounted for 15.1%, 9.4% and 3.0% respectively of road accidental deaths.

The majority (59.7%) of road accidents were due to overspeeding accounting for 87,050 deaths and 2,28,274 persons injured. Dangerous/careless driving or overtaking contributed to 25.7% road accidents which rendered 42,853 deaths and 91,893 persons injured. Besides, only 2.8% of road accidents were due to poor weather conditions.

59.7% and 40.3% of road accidents were reported in rural areas (2,40,747 cases) and urban areas (1,62,369 cases) respectively. 29.9% (1,20,603 cases out of 4,03,116 cases) of total road accidents were reported near residential areas.

Most of road accidents (81,410 out of 4,03,116 cases) were reported during 6pm to 9pm, accounting for 20.2% of total road accidents. From 6 pm to 9 pm, the majority of road accidents were reported in Tamil Nadu (14,415 cases), Madhya Pradesh (9,798 cases) and Kerala (6,765 cases). The time period ‘3 pm to 6 pm’ and ‘12 pm to 3 pm’ accounted for 17.8% (71,711 cases) and 15.5% (62,587 cases) of total road accidents during 2021.

Generally, road accidents have caused more injuries than deaths, but in Mizoram, Punjab, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, road accidents caused more deaths than leaving persons injured.

In Mizoram, 64 road accidents caused 64 deaths and injuries to 28 persons; in Punjab, 6,097 road accidents caused 4,516 deaths and injuries to 3,034 persons; in Jharkhand, 4,728 road accidents caused 3,513 deaths and injuries to 3,227 persons; and in Uttar Pradesh, 33,711 road accidents caused 21,792 deaths and injuries to 19,813 persons.

“The information published in this report has been obtained from States/UTs Police. NCRB has only compiled and collated the data and presented it in the form of this report. As data is being furnished by States/UTs, NCRB is not responsible for authenticity of the information. However, any discrepancy observed in this report may be brought to the notice of the NCRB,” NCRB stated.