Number of pedestrian deaths on Indian roads down in 2020: Nitin Gadkari

India is positioned among the countries with an alarmingly high number of deaths due to road accidents. To curb such a high number of fatalities due to road accidents across the country, the central government has been taking a wide range of measures. As it seems, these steps are bringing results. Union minister of road, transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday has said in Rajya Sabha that a total of 23,483 pedestrian deaths due to road accidents were recorded in 2020.

The number of deaths due to road accidents in the last calendar year was down from 2019 when 25,858 pedestrians were killed in road accidents across India. The minister also said that the total number of deaths in road accidents across India in the last calendar year was 131,714, down from 151,113 recorded in 2019. Gadkari said the information and data on accidents and death have been obtained from state police.

Speaking about the issue, Gadkari further said that in order to prevent road accidents and save lives, the Motor Vehicle Act was amended focusing on road safety. The amended law now focuses on higher penalties for traffic violations, electronic monitoring of traffic and enhanced penalties for juvenile driving among others.

Speaking further on the reason behind the high number of pedestrian deaths due to road accidents, Gadkari said that no study on why pedestrian deaths happen is available or has been conducted. "Generally, such deaths occur due to pedestrians not following norms laid down for walking along roads or trying to crossroads during traffic. Accidents also occur due to over-speeding vehicles," he further added.

Answering a question regarding the government's plan to increase speed limits for vehicles of different categories on roads, especially on expressways, the minister said that no such proposal is under consideration as of now.