Editorial: India’s dubious distinction on road safety
With just 1 per cent of the global vehicle count, India accounts for nearly 11 per cent of worldwide road fatalities, making its roads among the most perilous globally
India has earned the dubious distinction of being the road accident capital of the world, reporting more than 20 deaths every hour, most of the victims being young adults. On the one hand, India has the second-largest road network in the world, after the United States, but on the other, it has been recording the highest number of road accident deaths globally year after year. In 2023, over 1.8 lakh people died in over 4.80 lakh road mishaps across the country — a staggering average of 500 lives snuffed out every day. What is more disturbing is that nearly two-thirds of the victims were aged between 18 and 45 — the most active segment of society and often the breadwinners for their households. While national highways constitute only about 2 per cent of India’s total road network length, they account for over 30 per cent of all road accident deaths nationwide. This highlights the intense traffic volumes, higher speeds, and potentially complex safety challenges inherent to these major corridors. The Union government has set an ambitious target to halve road accident deaths and injuries by 2030. Unless the multiple challenges to road safety are addressed, this target may remain elusive. Despite the efforts of successive governments and investments, India’s roads remain among the most unsafe in the world. Experts say this is a crisis rooted not just in infrastructure, but in human behaviour, enforcement gaps, and systemic neglect. Road accidents impose a significant economic burden, costing the country 3 per cent of its annual GDP.
There are multiple factors responsible for growing fatalities: Reckless driving, excessive speed, driving under the influence, inadequate road design, weak enforcement of traffic regulations, insufficient emergency response, and lack of public awareness. With just 1 per cent of the global vehicle count, India accounts for nearly 11 per cent of worldwide road fatalities, making its roads among the most perilous globally. Despite being a major cause of accidents, flawed road designs rarely get due attention from policymakers. A major obstacle is the fragmented management of road safety. Responsibilities are dispersed among transport departments, law enforcement, local authorities, and the healthcare sector, often leading to unclear accountability. Effective risk reduction requires organisational cohesion and strong legal backing. Establishing a National Road Safety Authority could provide essential integration. The laws governing transportation are archaic and need a complete overhaul. A strong legislation that makes tougher penalties for not only traffic rule violators but also road designers and engineers is necessary to control the growing indiscipline on India’s roads. At the same time, focus should be on effective implementation, sensitising the traffic enforcement authorities about the new guidelines and, more importantly, ensuring total compliance from road users. Technology tools can come in handy to improve road safety. AI-driven traffic surveillance systems can detect violations in real time — whether it is speeding, lane violations, or running red lights — and initiate automatic fines.
