Deadliest hours to drive in Delhi? Road accident data reveals shocking facts

Driving in Delhi at night or over the weekend is riskier than at any other time of the day or week, according to a report released by the Delhi transport department. The report titled ‘2022 Delhi Road Crash Fatalities’ highlights that the leanest traffic hours are also the deadliest in the national capital. The report says that most road accident deaths in Delhi took place between 9 pm and 2 am, and over the weekends in 2022. The report also says that at least four people were killed every day in Delhi in road accidents two years ago.

The report on road accidents in Delhi in 2022 show that pedestrians, two-wheeler and three-wheeler riders have mostly been the victims. In 2022, Delhi reported overall 5,652 road accidents. 1,517 incidents out of these were fatal crashes in which 1,571 people died. Half of those killed in these road accidents were pedestrians. 45 per cent of the victims in these road accidents were either passengers or riding a two-wheeler or three-wheeler.

Besides the late hours, Delhi recorded very high number of road accidents on weekends. Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays recorded the highest number of fatalities. The reason behind increase in road accidents at these hours or over the weekend are mostly over-speeding or drunken driving. The report said, speeding vehicles at night involved in hit-and-run accidents have led to fatalities. Commercial vehicles are mostly repsonsible in such accidents. The report said 81 per cent of all these accidents involved a commercial vehicle.

Biggest reasons for road accidents in Delhi

In 2023, the Delhi Traffic Police had released a data saying drunken driving, over-speeding commercial vehicles and low police deployment lead to most of the accidents at night in the national capital. The recent report said, “This may indicate the need for enhanced enforcement measures in areas witnessing hit-and-run crashes to address this."

Delhi also reported 59 per cent hit-and-run cases in 2022. In all these road accidents, pedestrians were the biggest victims with 57 per cent fatality. Motorcyclists were second on the list with 33 per cent fatality.

Four people die in road accidents every day in Delhi

The average of four deaths every day due to road accidents, which the report termed as ‘preventable’, is a major jump from the average in 2021. "It is concerning that these numbers represent a 28 per cent increase from the previous year," the report said. In cases of fatalities, nearly all were categorised as vulnerable road users. They include pedestrians, bikers, cyclists and three-wheeler riders or passengers. The figure is higher than the national average of 70.8 per cent, according to the report. The report also said that 89 per cent of the road crash fatalities were men, while rest were women. Among the male victims, most of them were aged between 30 and 39 years.

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