Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s frank admission about the road accidents across India is one more confession about the traffic indiscipline and its horrible consequences. His candid speech in the Lok Sabha is testimony to the fact that the authorities have failed to curb such lawlessness on our roads and highways despite his determination to reduce such accidents by at least 50 percent when he first took charge as the road transport and highways minister.
It is only an unhappy coincidence that Gadkari has made this revealing admission just a day after the horrific BEST bus accident in Mumbai in which seven innocent people were crushed to death in a crowded locality of central Mumbai. Regrettably, Maharashtra is in the third place among the states with highest fatalities.
Gadkari was quite emotional when he told the lower house of parliament, “Forget about reducing the number of accidents, I have no hesitation to admit that it has increased. When I go to attend international conferences discussing road accidents, I try to hide my face.” He emphasised that for things to improve, human behaviour in India has to change, society has to change and the rule of law has to be respected.
According to Gadkari, road accidents claim 1.78 lakh lives annually in the country and 60 percent of the victims are in the age group of 18-34 years.
He gave out some shocking statistics. Accordingly, in Uttar Pradesh, over 23000 people (or 13.7 percent of the total deaths due to road accidents) died, followed by Tamil Nadu with more than 18,000 (10.6 percent) deaths. This was followed by Maharashtra, where the death toll was over 15000 (or 9 percent of the total casualties). The state was followed by Madhya Pradesh with over 13000 (8 percent) deaths.
Gadkari analysed the causes that resulted in serious accidents and loss of life. Thus, truck parking on the roads is a major cause of accidents. A large number of trucks don’t follow lane discipline. It has been reported repeatedly how heavy vehicles disregard land discipline on our highways and expressways, forcing smaller vehicles to change lanes abruptly.
This column has described in detail how the busiest Mumbai-Pune Expressway is hardly patrolled by the police, how speed limits are ignored and how cars jostle with each other to reach their destination ahead of others. There are occasional police press notes which claim that the force is implementing road discipline. But in reality, no such exercise takes place. Those travelling on this Expressway can vouch to this stark reality.
In fact, the road worthiness of vehicles is never checked. Hence, old and outdates vehicles are seen plying all over Maharashtra, carrying many more passengers than stipulated. It is a common sight to notice half a dozen people travelling in autorickshaws under the nose of the traffic police in Mumbai and elsewhere. Tempo vehicles built for carrying luggage loads are seen transporting upwards of 20 people.
The India Status Report on Road Safety 2024 is a sad commentary on the overall apathy about road discipline and behaviour. The report has underscored the fact that road safety in India exhibits significant regional variations, with per capita road traffic death rates differing more than threefold across states.
The most accident-prone states are Tamil Nadu (21.9), followed by Telangana (19.2) and Chhattisgarh (17.6) as they have recorded the highest death rates per 100,000 people. West Bengal and Bihar had the lowest rates at 5.9 per 100,000 in 2021. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, account for nearly 50 percent of all road traffic fatalities.
The report has identified pedestrians, cyclists, and motorised two-wheeler riders as the most vulnerable road users. As stated by Gadkari, trucks are responsible for the highest proportion of impacting vehicles.
Despite the life-saving potential of helmet usage, more than 50 percent of motorised two-wheeler riders wear helmets in only seven states. In Mumbai, very few riders used the helmets. Their compulsion was collectively opposed by the two-wheelers riders in Pune. The government did not make any effort to enforce the use.
Only eight states have audited more than half of their National Highway networks, and even fewer states have extended such audits to state highways.
Basic road safety measures such as traffic calming, road markings, and signage remain insufficient in most states, while helmet usage in rural areas is particularly low, and trauma care facilities are inadequate.
The report emphasises the need for tailored, state-specific strategies to address the diverse road safety challenges across India.
In the global scenario, India’s performance is reprehensible. It is noted that most Indian states are unlikely to meet the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety objective, which aims to halve traffic-related deaths by 2030.
The report presents a comparison between India and developed countries such as Sweden and other Scandinavian nations, which have demonstrated exemplary road safety governance.
In 1990, the likelihood of an Indian dying in a road accident was 40 percent higher than in these nations; by 2021, this disparity had escalated to 600 percent, reflecting a significant surge in road fatalities in India.
Gadkari did not quote all such data, obviously for want of time. But he highlighted the malady that has spread all over the country and has been spreading unchecked. Rash driving in crowded cities like Mumbai and Pune have resulted in several deaths in recent months. Despite this, no harsh measures are evident. The Kurla mishap is one such sorry example.
The roads in Mumbai are teeming with people, who rarely use pavements, which are encroached by hawkers. The condition of most roads is lamentable, forcing the vehicle drivers to suddenly break of swerve. Jaywalkers are another menace, adding to the fatalities.
In short, the cause and effect are known, the remedy is urgently needed but no determined effort is made to rectify the situation. And the disease is not limited to just road users. It is present in every sphere of life, equally alarming in urban and rural areas, has afflicted the rich and poor alike.
Perhaps India is waiting for a magic wand that can make it a disciplined and orderly nation, as hoped by Gadkari.
A Column By
Dilip Chaware – Senior Editor
A media professional for 43 years, with extensive experience of writing on
a variety of subjects; he is also a documentary producer and book author.
