The number of road accidents on national highways has risen from 1,44,221 in 2018 to 1,51,997 in 2022. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha about this problematic trend, which highlights the requirement for improved safety standards on India’s major highways.
It formed a temporary drop in road accidents on national highways during the pandemic because people had limited movements; in 2020 and 2021. Hence road accidents came down to 1,19,615 and 1,28,825 respectively. This number shoots up in 2022 since now normal activities resume.
On a question regarding the creation of an independent lead agency for road safety, Gadkari said that IRC is engaged in laying down safety codes and standards for the design and maintenance of highways. In this matter, a safety audit is necessarily required before giving a completion certificate on the completion of highways. The agreements themselves point out the lapses created by the contractors or by engineers.
Union minister comments on rising number of road accidents on national highways
So far as the expressways are concerned, no detailed analysis has been essayed to study the correlation between speed limits and number of road accidents on the national highways,” Gadkari said in a documented reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha. The Centre has executed an electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) system to monitor and analyze the data about accidents happening across the country.
Data from expressways such as the Ahmedabad-Vadodara, Eastern Peripheral, Delhi-Meerut, and Delhi-Mumbai expressways authenticated 248 accidents in 2022, 241 in 2023, and 187 in 2024 (till November). Gadkari said that infringement of traffic rules is one of the main reasons for accidents, apart from other factors.
The rising rate of road accidents on the highways is a pointer to the necessity for the addressing of safety challenges. It could be that what is needed is increased enforcement of traffic laws, better road design, and full safety audits to reverse this trend.
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