There has been a considerable rise in the fatalities and road mishaps in the country in 2022, highlighted the annual report on ‘Road Accidents in India’ released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
As per the official data, a total of 4,61,312 road accidents were reported by States and Union Territories (UTs) during the calendar year 2022. In the total 4, 61, 312 road mishaps, 1,68,491 persons lost their lives while another 4,43,366 persons were injured.
This marks an increase of 11.9 percent in accidents, a 9.4 percent rise in fatalities, and a 15.3 percent rise in injuries compared to the previous year.
On average, 1,264 accidents and 462 deaths have been reported every day, or 53 accidents and 19 deaths every hour in the country in 2022.
Tamil Nadu with 64,105 accidents (13.9 %) recorded the highest number of road accidents in 2022 followed by Madhya Pradesh (54,432 i.e.11.8%). Uttar Pradesh (22,595 i.e., 13.4 %) topped the States in respect of the number of fatalities due to road accidents followed by Tamil Nadu (17,884 i.e., 10.6%).
During 2022, fatal accidents that took place on National Highways increased to 55,571 as compared to 50,953 fatal accidents in 2021, registering an increase of 9.1 percent.
During 2022, 'over-speeding' accounted for 72.3 percent of total road accidents, 71.2 percent of total deaths, and 72.8 percent of total injuries. The number of accidents, fatalities, and injuries due to “overspeeding” increased by 12.8 percent, 11.8 percent, and 15.2 percent respectively in 2022 relative to 2021.
'Driving on the wrong side' was the second highest cause of total road accidents during 2022 accounting for 4.9 percent.
During the year 2021, a total number of 4,12,432 road accidents were reported in the country, claiming 1,53,972 lives and causing injuries to 3,84,448 persons. Unfortunately, the worst-affected age group in road accidents was 18-45 years, which accounted for about 67 percent of total accidental deaths.