India Status Report on Road Safety 2024

The "India Status Report on Road Safety 2024," prepared by the TRIP Centre at IIT Delhi, highlights the ongoing challenges India faces in improving road safety. Despite advancements in other sectors, the report reveals a troubling picture of road traffic fatalities and injuries.

What does the Report reveal?

• High Fatality Rates: Road traffic injuries are a major public health issue in India. In 2021, they were the 13th leading cause of death and the 12th leading cause of health loss. In states like Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, road traffic injuries are among the top 10 causes of health loss.
• Disparities across States: There is a significant variation in road safety across India. Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh have some of the highest road traffic death rates, while West Bengal and Bihar report much lower rates. Six states—Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu—account for nearly half of all traffic fatalities.
• Vulnerable Road Users: Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorized two-wheeler riders are the most common victims of road accidents. Trucks are frequently involved in fatal crashes. Despite the potential for helmets to reduce fatalities and injuries, less than 50% of motorized two-wheeler riders wear them in most states.
• Comparing globally: In 1990, an Indian was 40% more likely to die in a road accident than someone in countries like Sweden. By 2021, this disparity had increased to 600%.

What makes India’s roads unsafe?

• Accidents and deaths on Indian roads are mainly due tofaulty road engineering, defective detailed project reports and the bad design of junctions coupled with inadequate signage and road markings.
• India’s current road safety data systems are insufficient for effective policymaking.
• Absence of a national crash-level database: Road safety statistics are compiled from police station records and aggregated at various levels before being published. This system allows only basic analyses and often contains inaccuracies.
• Many states lack comprehensive road safety measures. Basic elements like traffic calming, proper markings, and signage are insufficient. Helmet usage in rural areas is particularly low, and trauma care facilities are inadequate.
• In India, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the National Highways Authority of India are responsible for setting safety standards and those assessing compliance. Legislative loopholes enable design failures to slip through the cracks because there are no independent audits.
  • The 2007 Sundar Committee on Road Safetyhas recommended separating the entities responsible for setting safety standards and those assessing compliance.
• Road Infrastructure heavily favours motorised vehicles over non-motorised transport. Pedestrians are relegated to the periphery of road networks or forced to compete for space with motor vehicles, which puts them at grave risk of injuries or fatalities.

What needs to be done?

• Scale Up Road Safety Interventions: There is need to prioritize and expand road safety measures across states.
• Establish a National Database: Government must create a comprehensive national database for fatal crashes, which should be publicly accessible. This would improve the understanding of road safety risks and the effectiveness of interventions.
• Implement Targeted Strategies: There is need to develop tailored strategies to address the unique road safety challenges faced by different states, focusing on areas such as helmet usage, traffic management, and trauma care.