Road accident deaths increased 2.5% in 2024 from 2023: MoRTH report

INdia’s roadstead became deadlier in 2024, with fatalities from route crashes rising to 177,175, a 2.5% increment from 1,72,890 in 2023, according to the a la mode(p) route Accidents in India 2024 report released by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH). The country recorded 487,707 road accidents during the year, up 1.5% from the previous year.The 2024 toll is significantly higher than the 10-year average of around 154,000 fatalities annually between 2014 and 2023. Averaged out, in 2024, India witnessed approximately 485 deaths every day and 20.2 deaths hourly compared to 473 such deaths in 2023, 19.7 deaths every 60 minutes.While the number of deaths has increased, the death rate per 10,000 vehicles has continued its long-term decline — falling from 7.3 in 2014 to 4.8 in 2022 — as the number of vehicles has increased from 191 million in 2014 to 354 million in 2024, suggesting that safety improvements have struggled to keep pace with rapid motorisation and the increase in road length.Cities show little improvementIndian cities with a 50-million plus population reported a marginal 0.4% reduction in road accident fatalities. Among these cities, Delhi recorded the highest number of accidents (5,657), fatalities (1,551) and injuries (5,224) in 2024. The national capital also reported 147 pedestrian deaths at crossings, among the highest in the country.Bengaluru ranked second nationally in both accidents and fatalities, recording 4,769 crashes and 894 deaths during 2024. Chennai reported 3,762 accidents, the fifth-highest among million-plus cities, and 542 fatalities, placing it tenth on that metric. Mumbai recorded 2,604 accidents and 2,722 injuries, ranking 11th and ninth, respectively, while its 370 fatalities placed it 16th nationally. Kolkata reported the lowest casualty burden among the five major metros, with 1,942 accidents and 191 fatalities, ranking 18th and 37th, respectively.Ahmedabad recorded 125 fewer deaths during the year, followed by Dhanbad with 95 fewer deaths and Kanpur with 78 fewer deaths. Despite the overall improvement, several major metros continued to account for a significant share of urban road trauma.Hit and run kills moreHit-and-run cases recorded the sharpest rise in road fatalities in India in 2024, with deaths increasing by 9.0% year-on-year to 34,030, accounting for 19.2% of all road fatalities in the country.Rear-end (”Hit from back”) collisions remained the single largest contributor to road deaths, claiming 37,404 lives and accounting for 21.1% of all fatalities. Deaths in this category rose by 1.6% compared to 2023.Head-on collisions were responsible for 28,400 deaths, or 16.0% of total road fatalities, although fatalities in this category declined by 1.7% year-on-year.Fatalities resulting from side-impact (”Hit from side”) collisions increased by 5.3% during the year, indicating the growing severity of such crashes. In contrast, crashes involving parked vehicles recorded the most significant improvement, with fatalities falling by 20.4% from 2023 levels.Broad trends stay putThe report also cemented some trends in road crash fatalities of the past decades, with two-wheelers (46.2%) followed by pedestrians at 20.6%. National Highways, despite constituting only 2.1% of India’s road network, had a 36.6% share in deaths, while over-speeding was a reason for 70.3% of all road crash deaths. The 18-45 age group accounted for 66.1% of all road accident deaths in 2024. The share rises to 83.3% when the broader 18-60 working-age population is considered. Rural areas accounted for 70.8% of fatalities, underscoring the continuing rural-urban disparity in road safety outcomes. Accident severity, measured as the number of persons killed per 100 accidents, increased to 36.3 in 2024 from 36 in 2023. The figure has risen steadily from 20.1 in 2000, indicating that road crashes are becoming increasingly lethal.Straight roads remained the deadliest feature, claiming 118,817 lives (67.1% share) compared to 114,447 in 2023, while pothole-related fatalities surged 10.4% to 2,385 despite a 7% drop in total pothole accidents.S Velmurugan, senior advisor at National Council of Applied Economic Research and former scientist at Central Road Research Institute, said: “Speeding is the biggest reason crashes are concentrated on straight road sections. Drivers often exceed posted speed limits on such stretches, and when combined with factors such as pedestrian crossings, wrong-side driving, and unsafe use of median openings, the risk of severe crashes rises sharply. The high number of crashes on straight sections is therefore the result of multiple interacting factors rather than any single cause.”Rohit Baluja, president, Institute of Road Traffic Education, said, “These numbers are not merely statistics; they reflect a continuing failure to identify and address the root causes of road crashes. Numbers alone do not save lives. India’s road crash statistics tell us how many people died, but not why they died. Without scientific crash investigation and diagnosis of the causative and consequential factors, we will continue to treat symptoms rather than the disease. Road safety improvements require systemic solutions based on evidence, not assumptions.”The report also recorded some improvements. On state highways, accidents and fatalities declined by 2.01% and 0.41%, respectively, compared with 2023. The non-use of helmets and seatbelts continued to claim a significant number of lives on Indian roads in 2024, although these specific categories saw a marginal decline. Fatalities linked to the non-wearing of helmets dropped slightly from 54,568 in 2023 to 54,122 in 2024. Driver fatalities actually increased from 39,160 to 39,470, while passenger deaths saw a more substantial reduction, falling from 15,408 to 14,652 over the last year related to helmet use.A more pronounced improvement was recorded in fatalities related to the non-use of seatbelts, which fell by approximately 9.7% from 16,025 in 2023 to 14,466 in 2024. This reduction was reflected across both categories of vehicle occupants, with driver fatalities decreasing from 8,441 to 7,489 and passenger deaths dropping from 7,584 to 6,977. Several states reported a decrease in the total number of accidents compared to 2023, most notably Haryana (-6.3%), Gujarat (-4.7%), and Andhra Pradesh (-2.0%).Tamil Nadu continued to report the highest number of road accidents in the country, recording 67,526 cases, or 13.8% of the national total. Uttar Pradesh remained the deadliest state, accounting for 24,118 fatalities, or 13.6% of all road deaths. Among states, Mizoram recorded the highest accident severity at 93.2 deaths per 100 accidents, followed by Bihar at 80.5 and Jharkhand at 79.2.The report said the electronic detailed accident report (e-DAR) system is being used to build a real-time, geo-tagged database of crashes to support targeted interventions. The report also flags a data limitation relating to West Bengal and specifically the Durgapur-Asansol region. Since these areas did not furnish information in the prescribed standardised formats, their figures were recast using aggregate e-DAR data and historical 2023 reporting structures to maintain national-level consistency.The report also differs from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, which was released in May. While MoRTH recorded 177,175 road fatalities in 2024, the NCRB reported 162,500 deaths attributed specifically to negligence. The gap of around 14,600 deaths stems from differences in classification methodologies. MoRTH attributed 70.3% of fatalities to over-speeding, while the NCRB reported a lower share of 61.2% for the same violation.