India's Road Safety Crisis: More Fatalities than Wars and Militancy

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari highlighted the alarming rate of road accident fatalities in India, surpassing deaths from wars, militancy, and Naxalism. At the FICCI Road Safety Awards 2024, he emphasized the need for improved road engineering and safety audits, with annual accidents causing significant economic loss.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari underscored a disturbing trend: road accidents in India claim more lives than wars, militancy, and Naxalism combined.

Speaking at the sixth Edition of the FICCI Road Safety Awards and Conclave 2024, Gadkari pointed out that faulty detailed project reports (DPRs) are contributing to the rising number of blackspots.

India experiences 5 lakh accidents and 1.5 lakh deaths annually, with a further 3 lakh people sustaining injuries. This, Gadkari noted, amounts to a 3 per cent GDP loss, often unfairly blaming drivers instead of addressing road engineering flaws.

He stressed the critical need for a comprehensive safety audit of all highways and adherence to lane discipline. Gadkari also revealed that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is developing new codes to better train ambulance drivers in emergency response techniques.

(With inputs from agencies.)