Fewer road accidents in 2018, but fatalities up

According to a media report, 4.61 lakh road accidents were reported in India during 2018. While this number is lesser than the 4.65 lakh reported in 2017, the number of fatalities went up to nearly 1.49 lakh in 2018 from 1.48 lakh in 2017.

Among the states, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of road accident related deaths (22,256) in the country. The number of fatalities went up by 2,132 compared to the previous year. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu recorded 12,216 road fatalities - down 24.4% with 3,941 fewer road deaths compared to 2017. In the last 6 years, Uttar Pradesh has seen a consistent rise in the number of road deaths, while Tamil Nadu has seen a steady decline. In 2013, the two states had recorded 16,003 and 15,563 deaths respectively. Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa and Puducherry have also reported a drop in the number of road accident related deaths.

The states of Gujarat and Maharashtra registered a rise in the number of road fatalities. In 2018, road accident deaths in the two states went up by 685 and 574 respectively. In terms of total number of deaths, Gujarat reported 7,974 fatalities, while Maharashtra reported 13,085. 

If you consider the number of road deaths per lakh population, then Haryana tops the charts with 20.2 deaths per lakh, while Nagaland at 3.2 has the lowest.

Source: Times of India