STUDY: UP tops in fatal road accidents in the country

Lucknow: In Yogi’s UP, expressways maybe scripting a silent transformation in a state known for its poor quality of roads but what has come as a shocker is that UP tops the chart in the country for maximum number of deaths in accidents on national highways.

The revelation has been made in a ‘Road Safety Campaign, Road Accidents in India 2020’, a study released by the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH). According to the report, In 2020, 3,66,138 road accidents were reported by states/UTs, of which, 1,16,496 (31.82%) were on national highways; 47,984 (36.43%) people were killed and 1,09,898 (31.55%) were injured.

“The fact that much of the 31.8% of the accidents, 36.4% of deaths and 31.6% of accidents-related injuries took place on national highways, which share only 2.1% of the total road network in the country, needs attention,” the report stated.

“More accidents on the highways have been attributed to higher vehicle speeds and higher volume of traffic on these roads.” UP alone, according to the report, accounted for 16.4% of the road accident deaths on national highways in India, followed by Maharashtra (7.4%) and Karnataka (6.9%); Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of accidents on national highways.

Tamil Nadu topped the list for the fifth consecutive year in terms of the number of accidents 15,269 (13.1%), followed by UP with 13,695 (11.1%), Karnataka with 11,230 (9.6%), and MP with 9,866 (9.6%).

The report also showed that 10,492 accidents took place in UP in the recorded year, killing 5,984 persons on national highways under NHAI, while 1,265 people died in 2,159 mishaps on national highways under PWD.