One Death Every Minute in India Due to Road Accident

 

NEW DELHI (NNN-PTI) -- With more than one death and four injuries every minute, India has the dubious distinction of reporting the highest number of road fatalities in the world and the government says the prime reason is "drivers' fault".

"During the year 2009, there were around 4.9 lakh (0.49 million) road accidents, which resulted in deaths of 1, 25,660 people and injured more than five lakh (0.50 million) persons in India.... Driver's fault is the prime reason," Road Transport and Highways Secretary A K Upadhyaya, told reporters here on Thursday.

The official number of deaths increased in 2010 to 1.3 lakh (0.13 mn). The proportion of injuries to deaths remained unchanged at 4:1.

Deaths in road accidents in the country are the highest despite the fact that its population is much less than neighboring China and more vehicles ply on US roads than India.

Road traffic injuries were the ninth leading cause of deaths in 2004 and at the current rates, the ministry said, it would be the fifth leading cause of death overtaking diabetes and HIV/AIDS by 2030.

"The loss to the Indian economy due to fatalities and accident injuries is estimated at 3 per cent of GDP," it said.

On top of that, more than 52 per cent of road victims are in the age group of 25-65 years. Pedestrians, bicycles and two wheelers account for around 39 per cent of the fatalities. -- NNN-PTI