Tamil Nadu has most accident-prone locations on national highways: Nitin Gadkari

Tamil Nadu has the most accident-prone locations on national highways, revealed the union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari. Tamil Nadu has 748 accident-prone locations on national highways, followed by West Bengal and Karnataka that have 701 and 551 black spots, informed Gadkari.

Speaking about the number of accident-prone locations on national highways in different states, the minister said that temporary measures have been taken on 5,167 black spots. Also, 2,923 additional black spots have been permanently rectified. The minister also informed that all the ROs and agencies such as PWD, NHAI, NHIDCL, BRO have been asked to take necessary steps for rectification of these black spots.

The accident-prone locations on national highways are dubbed as black spots by the MoRTH. These spots are identified by the Transport Research Wing (TRW) of MoRTH. The black spots are defined depending on fatality rates and accident data submitted by the state governments.

A black spot is usually a 500 metre stretch of a national highway that has registered either five major road accidents or 10 fatalities over the last three years. These black spots can be a result of poor road construction and inadequate road safety measures as well.

India is among the top five countries in the world with the highest number of road accidents and fatalities due to mishaps on roads. The majority of these road accidents and fatalities take place on national highways. In the year 2020, a total of 47,984 deaths from road accidents were registered on national highways across India.

Tamil Nadu is the state with the highest number of road accidents in India, followed by Madhya Pradesh. The southern state registered 19,583 road accidents in 2018. In 2019 and 2020, the numbers were reduced to 17,633 and 15,269 respectively.