Over 1.58 lakh two-wheeler road accidents occurred in India in 2020: Gadkari

As many as 158,964 two-wheeler road accidents took place in India in 2020, which caused 56,873 deaths, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said in Parliament on Wednesday. He also said that 56,136 people were killed in road accidents across India involving two-wheelers in 2019, while the total number of accidents involving two-wheelers stood at 167,184.

Gadkari further said that to prevent road accidents, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has formulated a multi-pronged strategy that will address the issue of road safety based on education, engineering of roads and vehicles, enforcement and emergency care.

India is one of the countries with the highest number of deaths and critical injuries due to road accidents. Every year, around 450,000 accidents take place in India, due to which around 150,000 people die and many become handicapped or seriously injured. In fact, India is the country with the highest number of fatalities due to road accidents. An estimate claims that there are 53 road accidents in India every hour and one death every four minutes.

A majority of these road accidents involve two-wheelers. While not obeying the traffic rules is one of the reasons behind these accidents, disputes in road conditions too is another cause. Also, the majority of these road accidents take place on national highways.

About 450,000 accidents take place in India annually, of which 150,000 people die. “ Every year, lakhs of road accidents occur around the country causing deaths and serious injuries.," said the report. “

In an attempt to prevent these road accidents involving the two-wheelers, MoRTH has taken several different steps. It has asked the two-wheeler manufacturers to equip all the two-wheelers with an engine displacement over 125cc ABS, while models with an engine displacement of 125cc or below will need to have compulsory fitment of a combi-braking system (CBS), effective from 1st April 2019. On the other hand, the government has increased the amount of fines substantially for breaching traffic rules.

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