New Delhi: As many as 1.73 lakh people lost their lives in around 4.22 lakh traffic accidents in the country in 2021 with Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest number of deaths in such mishaps at 24,711 deaths followed by Tamil Nadu which recorded 16,685 deaths.
According to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of traffic accidents in the country increased from 3,68,828 in 2020 to 4,22,659 in 2021. These traffic accidents comprise 4,03,116 road accidents, 17,993 railway accidents and 1,550 railway crossing accidents. They caused 1,55,622, 16,431 and 1,807 deaths respectively during 2021.
The maximum increase in number of traffic accident cases in states from 2020 to 2021 was reported in Tamil Nadu (from 46,443 to 57,090) followed by Madhya Pradesh (from 43,360 to 49,493), Uttar Pradesh (from 30,593 to 36,509), Maharashtra (from 24,908 to 30,086) and Kerala ( from 27,998 to 33,051). "These traffic accidents resulted in injuries to 3,73,884 people and 1,73,860 deaths during 2021. Uttar Pradesh (24,711 deaths) followed by Tamil Nadu (16,685 deaths) and Maharashtra (16,446 deaths) have reported maximum fatalities in traffic accidents in the country," the report said.
These three states accounted for 14.2 per cent, 9.6 per cent and 9.5 per cent of total deaths in traffic accidents respectively and collectively accounted for 33.3 per cent (57,842 out of 1,73,860) of total fatalities reported at all India level during 2021. The percentage share of traffic accidental deaths in total deaths due to 'Other Causes' has decreased from 45.1 per cent in 2017 to 44.5 per cent in 2021.
A rising trend was seen in the total number of deaths in 'traffic accidents' from 2017 to 2019 with a sharp decline in 2020, which again increased in 2021 but this number is less than that in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The total number of accidental deaths has increased by 18.8 per cent (from 1,46,354 to 1,73,860) in 2021 over 2020. A total of 4,03,116 road accident cases were reported in 2021. Road accident cases in the country have increased from 3,54,796 in 2020 to 4,03,116 in 2021.
The fatalities in road accidents have increased by 16.8 per cent - from 1,33,201 in 2020 to 1,55,622 in 2021. The NCRB report said that the rate of deaths per thousand vehicles in 2021 increased from 0.45 in 2020 to 0.53 in 2021. The 4,03,116 road accidents caused 1,55,622 deaths and injuries to 3,71,884 persons during 2021.
Generally road accidents have caused more injuries than deaths, but in Mizoram, Punjab, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, road accidents caused more deaths than leaving persons injured. In Mizoram, 64 road accidents caused 64 deaths and injuries to 28 persons; in Punjab, 6,097 road accidents caused 4,516 deaths and injuries to 3,034 persons; in Jharkhand, 4,728 road accidents caused 3,513 deaths and injuries to 3,227 persons; and in Uttar Pradesh, 33,711 road accidents caused 21,792 deaths and injuries to 19,813 persons. (PTI)
