Scale & Severity of the Issue
- First 6 months of 2025:
- Accidents: 67,933
- Deaths: 29,018 (≈54.7% of 2024’s total fatalities already reached in half a year)
- Annual comparison:
- 2023 → 53,630 deaths in 1,23,955 accidents
- 2024 → 53,090 deaths in 1,25,873 accidents
- If 2025 trend continues, fatalities may surpass 58,000–60,000 by year-end — the highest in recent years.
- Share in national road fatalities: National highways (NHs) account for ~30% of road accident deaths, despite comprising only ~2% of India’s total road network.
Relevance : GS 2(Social Issues , Health , Governance)
Key Observations from Data Trends
- High fatality rate: Deaths per accident on NHs are significantly higher than on other roads due to higher vehicle speeds and traffic volumes.
- Stagnant or worsening safety: Despite safety drives, fatalities on NHs have not seen meaningful reduction between 2023–2024, and 2025’s pace indicates deterioration.
- Potential under-reporting: Data is based on state/UT inputs to the eDAR portal — while this improves accuracy, actual figures may be higher due to delays or omissions in reporting.
Government’s Recognition & Measures
- Official target: Halve total road accident deaths by 2030, aligning with UN SDG 3.6.
- Remedial actions (short- & long-term):
- Road markings, signage, crash barriers, raised pavement markers.
- Geometric improvements & junction redesigns.
- Spot widening of carriageways.
- Construction of underpasses/overpasses.
- Root cause acknowledged: Road engineering faults identified as a primary factor; Minister Nitin Gadkari has publicly criticised poor quality designs by consultants.
Structural Challenges
- Design flaws: Poor curvature, inadequate shoulder space, abrupt junctions, and faulty merging lanes.
- Speed & enforcement gap: Lack of effective automated enforcement on speed limits and lane discipline.
- Mixed traffic hazards: NHs are used by both high-speed vehicles and slow-moving traffic (tractors, two-wheelers, animal carts), increasing collision risks.
- Infrastructure vs. safety lag: Rapid NH expansion under Bharatmala has outpaced equally robust safety integration.
- Maintenance gaps: Faded road markings, poor lighting, and potholes persist on certain stretches.
Social & Economic Impact
- Human cost: ~80 deaths/day on NHs alone in Jan–June 2025; many victims in economically productive age groups (18–45 years).
- Economic loss: India loses 3–5% of GDP annually due to road accidents (World Bank, 2021).
- Healthcare burden: Overstretching trauma care facilities along major corridors.
- Ripple effects: Loss of breadwinners, increased dependency ratios, and impact on household incomes.
Way Forward – Evidence-Based Solutions
- Engineering audit: Mandatory independent safety audit before and after NH construction.
- Speed management: AI-based speed enforcement, variable speed limits based on traffic/weather.
- Separation of traffic streams: Dedicated lanes for slow-moving vehicles on NHs in high-risk stretches.
- Black spot elimination: Time-bound removal/redesign of all identified accident-prone spots.
- Post-crash care: Golden Hour policy with GPS-linked ambulances and trauma centres every 50 km.
- Community awareness: Targeted campaigns for NH users, particularly truckers and two-wheeler riders.
- Accountability in design: Penal provisions for consultants/contractors in case of accidents linked to design defects.
