A latest World Bank report on road safety has said India, which has one per cent of the world’s vehicles, accounts for 10 per cent of all road crash victims.
Hartwig Schafer, World Bank’s Vice President for South Asia, said the Indian government in recent years has taken significant steps to address the issues related to road safety. But still, road mishaps are on a high in the country.
Indian roads witness 415 deaths per day in accidents, the highest in the world, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said last month.
According to the Road Accident Report for 2019, a total number of 449,002 accidents took place in India during the calendar year 2019, leading to 151,113 deaths and 451,361 injuries.
Last week, he called for all-round efforts by all stakeholders to ensure that deaths due to road accidents are reduced by 50 per cent by 2025. Inaugurating a Webinar Series titled “Road safety challenges in India and Preparation of an Action plan”, he said, “The road safety Institutes like International Road Federation (IRF) along with engineering colleges and IITs can help the government in road safety audits.”
Terming the situation as alarming, the Minister said we stand at number one position in road accidents in the world, ahead of US and China. All stakeholders- from government to vehicle makers to road users- should take their best steps to bring down road mishaps.