Road accidents claim 1.46 lakh lives, injure 5 lakh people in 2015

Road accidents were on the rise in 2015 and claimed over 1.46 lakh lives, besides injuring over 5 lakh people, Parliament was informed on Monday.

In 2015, India recorded 1,46,133 road accident-related deaths and 5,00,279 injuries, as against 1,39,671 deaths and 4,93,474 injuries in 2014, data presented by Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Mansukh L Mandaviya in a written reply to Rajya Sabha showed.

India reported a total of 5,01,423 accidents last year against 4,89,400 in 2014, the data revealed.

Between 2011 and 2013, road accidents, injuries and deaths registered a declining trend but rose again from 2014.

In 2011, India reported a total of 4,97,686 accidents, 1,42,485 accident-related deaths and 5,11,394 injuries against 4,90,383 accidents, 1,38,258 deaths and 5,09,667 injuries.

In 2013, the numbers went down further. A total of 4,86,476 accidents were reported. Accident-related deaths and injuries stood at 1,37,572 and 4,94,893, respectively.

According to a UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) study, India’s GDP takes a 3 per cent hit every year due to road accidents, which is equivalent to over USD 58 billion in value terms.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has made cutting down of road accident fatalities as one of the major programmes of his ministry.