Over 1.73 lakh killed in road accidents in 2023; over-speeding major cause: NCRB

PTI | More than 1.73 lakh people were killed and 4,47,969 others were injured in road accidents  across the country in 2023 with 45.8 per cent of the victims riding two wheelers, while over-speeding were found to be the two major causes of road accidents, according to a report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Most of the road accidents, 95,984 out of the total 4,64,029, in the country in 2023 were reported during 6 pm to 9 pm, accounting for 20.7 per cent of the total road accidents. From 3 pm to 6 pm and 12 noon to 3 pm accounted for 17.3 per cent (80,482 cases) and 15 per cent (69,397 cases), respectively.
A total of 4,64,029 road accident cases were reported in 2023 — 17,261 more than 2022 — with a 1.6 per cent increase in fatalities.
Two-wheelers have accounted for maximum fatal road accidents (79,533 deaths), contributing 45.8 per cent of total road accident deaths, followed by pedestrians (27,586 deaths) (15.9 per cent) and SUV/car/jeep (24,776 deaths) (14.3 per cent).
Majority of deaths due to two-wheelers’ accidents were reported in Tamil Nadu (11,490 deaths) and Uttar Pradesh (8,370 deaths), accounting for 14.4 per cent and 10.5 per cent of total deaths, respectively.
A large number of deaths due to SUV/car/jeep accidents (4,768 out of 24,776) were reported in Uttar Pradesh (19.2 per cent of total such accidents) and a large number of deaths due to trucks/lorries/mini truck accidents (4,138 out of 13,823) were reported in Uttar Pradesh, accounting for 29.9 per cent.
The NCRB said cause-wise analysis of fatal road accidents revealed that 58.6 per cent (1,01,841 deaths) and 23.6 per cent (41,035 deaths) of fatalities in road accidents were due to over-speeding and dangerous/ careless driving or overtaking, respectively.
Poor weather conditions, driving under influence of drug/alcohol and animal crossing caused 2.8 per cent (4,952 deaths) of the accident.
Generally road accidents have caused more injuries than deaths, but in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, Punjab, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, road accidents caused more deaths compared to persons injured.
In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 25 road accidents caused 27 deaths and injuries to 11 persons; in Jharkhand, 5,316 road accidents caused 4,173 deaths and injuries to 3,586 persons; in Punjab, 6,276 road accidents caused 4,906 deaths and injuries to 3,305 persons; in Bihar, 11,014 road accidents caused 8,873 deaths and injuries to 6,539 persons, and in Uttar Pradesh, 37,764 road accidents caused 23,947 deaths and injuries to 23,843 persons.
A total of 3,630 cases of road accidents were also reported on Expressways which caused injuries to 2,762 persons and deaths of 2,372 persons.
The highest numbers of deaths in road accidents were reported on the National Highways accounting for 34.6 per cent (60,127 out of 1,73,826) followed by State Highways  (23.4 per cent) (40,611 deaths).
A total of 73,088 (42 per cent) people died due to road accidents on other roads.
State/UT-wise patterns revealed that maximum fatalities in road accidents on the National Highways took place in Uttar Pradesh (11.7 per cent) (7,041 out of 60,127 deaths) followed by Tamil Nadu (10.4 per cent) (6,258 deaths), Maharashtra (8.5 per cent) (5,104 deaths), Karnataka (7 per cent) (4,230 deaths) and Madhya Pradesh (7 per cent) (4,184 deaths) during 2023.                    
                                                                   
Source: worldautoforum.com