Parliament Question: Road Accidents

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3388 ANSWERED ON 12TH MARCH, 2026 ROAD ACCIDENTS 3388. SHRI TANGELLA UDAY SRINIVAS: Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार् ग मंत्री be pleased to state: (a) the number of fatal and non-fatal road accidents reported during the last five years, year-wise, State-wise, and district-wise, including Kakinada district; (b) the primary causes of road accidents, including data on accidents due to potholes, speeding, head-on collisions and other factors, State- wise; (c) the funds allocated, released and utilised for road safety initiatives during the last five years, year-wise; (d) whether the Government is supporting Research and Development (R&D) in technologies or equipment for on-the-spot repair of road hazards such as potholes and if so, the details of funds allocated and progress made thereof; (e) the steps taken to enhance road safety infrastructure and reduce accident risks in high-risk districts such as Kakinada; and (f) whether there are any plans to strengthen public awareness, capacity building and monitoring mechanisms for road safety measures, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI) (a) and (b) Government publishes report on “Road Accidents in India” based on data received from States/ UTs. As per the report, State / UT - wise number of fatal and non-fatal road accidents on all categories of roads in the country, including Andhra Pradesh, during the year 2020 to 2024 is attached as Annexure - I. As per the report, road accidents occur due to multiple causes such as over speeding, use of mobile phone, drunken driving/consumption of alcohol and drug, driving on wrong side/ lane indiscipline, jumping redlight, non-use of safety devices such as helmets and seat belts, vehicular condition, weather condition, road condition, etc. (c) There is no specific Road Safety Fund at the Central level. Road Safety funds are established at the level of States/UTs. However, Road Safety is an integral and indispensable component of every National Highway Project. Road Safety initiatives on National Highways commence with the inception of Detailed Project Report (DPR) as road safety audit of all National Highways projects has been made mandatory at all stages i.e. design, construction, operation & maintenance through auditors/experts. As per available data, expenditure on comprehensive road safety aspects varies from 2.21% to 15% of total cost of the development projects depending upon structures involved for construction of National Highways. Besides, the Government also implements the scheme for creation of awareness & publicity among road users and provides financial support to Transport Departments of States/UTs for setting up of Model Driving Training Institutes/Centres, setting up of Model Inspection & Certification Centres, improving and Strengthening of Public Transport System etc. The details of funds released for these initiatives during the last five Financial Years are placed at Annexure - II. (d) Pothole repairs are carried out in accordance with Indian Roads Congress guidelines such as special report on „State of Art: Mobile Routine Maintenance Facility for Flexible Pavement‟. (e) and (f) Government has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4E's i.e. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. Accordingly, various initiatives have been taken for road safety in the country as detailed at Annexure-III.Annexure - I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) and (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3388 ANSWERED ON 12TH MARCH, 2026 ASKED BY SHRI TANGELLA UDAY SRINIVAS REGARDING ROAD ACCIDENTS. Sl. States/UTs 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 No . Fatal Non- Fatal Non- Fatal Non- Fatal Non- Fatal Non- Fatal Fatal Fatal Fatal Fatal 1 Andhra 6531 12978 7585 13971 7688 13561 7516 12433 7722 11835 Pradesh 2 Arunachal 61 73 150 133 123 104 124 163 138 139 Pradesh 3 Assam 2483 4112 2893 4518 2837 4186 3101 4320 3176 4672 4 Bihar 6197 2442 7061 2492 8242 2559 8286 2728 8504 3106 5 Chhattisgar 4234 7422 4982 7393 5446 7833 5743 7725 6463 8394 h 6 Goa 213 2162 218 2631 253 2758 272 2574 271 2411 7 Gujarat 5622 7776 6825 8361 6999 8752 7225 9124 7088 8500 8 Haryana 4181 5250 4403 5530 4593 5836 4652 5811 4389 5417 9 Himachal 734 1505 871 1533 864 1733 727 1526 741 1415 Pradesh 10 Jharkhand 2775 1630 3221 1507 3570 1605 3799 1516 3773 1423 11 Karnataka 9084 25094 9458 25189 10854 28908 11603 31837 11616 31446 12 Kerala 2823 25054 3262 30034 4104 39806 3884 44207 3702 45132 13 Madhya 9874 35392 10806 38071 12183 42249 12745 42582 13661 43008 Pradesh 14 Maharashtra 10773 14198 12554 16923 14058 19325 14119 21124 14565 21553 15 Manipur 112 320 99 267 109 399 71 327 68 231 16 Meghalaya 130 84 150 95 147 99 151 72 179 90 17 Mizoram 41 12 48 21 94 39 80 26 101 17 18 Nagaland 46 454 56 690 67 422 75 228 56 73 19 Odisha 4391 5426 4756 6227 5140 6523 5395 6597 5779 6596 20 Punjab 3646 1557 4250 1621 4418 1720 4516 1753 4445 1618 21 Rajasthan 8363 10751 9055 11896 10061 13553 10657 14037 10775 14063 22 Sikkim 34 104 40 115 58 153 56 126 63 8623 Tamil Nadu 13868 35976 14747 40935 17080 47025 17526 49687 17640 49886 24 Telangana 6429 12743 7080 14235 7057 14562 7186 15717 7495 18491 25 Tripura 179 287 181 298 232 343 242 335 213 365 26 Uttarakhand 592 449 742 663 851 823 925 766 929 818 27 Uttar 17075 17168 19026 18703 20524 21222 21653 22881 22013 24039 Pradesh 28 West 4774 6089 5405 6532 5626 8060 5664 8131 6172 7530 Bengal* 29 Andaman & 12 129 19 96 19 122 23 120 26 109 Nicobar Islands 30 Chandigarh 50 109 94 114 79 158 64 118 72 97 31 Dadra & 61 39 71 69 88 108 73 109 88 64 Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 32 Delhi 1163 3015 1206 3514 1428 4224 1432 4402 1504 4153 33 Jammu & 623 4237 642 4810 654 5438 730 5568 676 5132 Kashmir 34 Ladakh 0 48 188 60 314 49 240 59 205 35 Lakshadwee 0 1 1 3 0 3 0 1 0 0 p 36 Puducherry 133 836 158 891 175 1006 145 1163 216 1215 Total 12730 24487 14216 27026 15578 30553 16050 32007 16437 32332 7 4 3 9 1 1 9 4 8 9 Note *figures of West Bengal for the year 2024 are re-casted based on the pattern of the data furnished by the State Police Department for the year 2023 and the aggregate e-DAR data of the State for the year 2024Annexure - II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3388 ANSWERED ON 12TH MARCH, 2026 ASKED BY SHRI TANGELLA UDAY SRINIVAS REGARDING ROAD ACCIDENTS. Details of funds released by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways for various road safety initiatives/schemes during the last five FYs (Rs. In Crores) Sl. Activity/ Programme BE Expendi BE Expend BE Expe BE Expend BE Expend No. FY ture FY iture FY nditur FY iture FY iture 2020- in FY 2021- in FY 2022 e 202 in FY 2024 - in FY 21 2020-21 22 2021- - 23 in 3 – 2023 25 2024 - 22 FY 24 – 25 2022 24 – 23 1 Road Safety publicity 171.00 65.94 109.0 41.48 189.5 68.67 138. 85.04 103.50 99.20 measures and 0 0 10 awareness campaigns, National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme (NHARSS), refresher Training of Drivers in Unorganised Sector and Human Resource Development, etc. 2 Inspection and 29.00 16.20 29.00 14.15 33.00 14.60 24.0 17.77 19.50 10.65 Certification Centres 0 (Revenue) 3 Improving and 89.00 30.60 103.0 10.80 15.00 30.33 50.0 38.00 38.00 16.04 Strengthening of Public 0 * 0 Transport System *Rs. 40.00 crore at RE StageAnnexure - III ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (e) and (f) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3388 ANSWERED ON 12TH MARCH, 2026 ASKED BY SHRI TANGELLA UDAY SRINIVAS REGARDING ROAD ACCIDENTS. Details of various initiatives taken by the Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for road safety : - (1) Education: i. Administers a scheme for setting up of Institutes of Driving Training & Research (IDTRs), Regional Driving Training Centres (RDTCs) and Driving Training Centres (DTCs) at State/district level across the Country. Recently revised scheme guidelines have been issued, incorporating enhanced financial assistance and streamlined eligibility criteria for establishing Driving Training Institutes. Additionally, incentives have been introduced for setting up Automated Testing Stations (ATS) in conjunction with Driving Training Institutes (DTIs) under the Training-Testing Cluster approach. ii. Administers Road Safety Advocacy Scheme for raising awareness about road safety and for administering road safety programs. iii. Observance of National Road Safety Month every year for spreading awareness and strengthening road safety. (2) Engineering : 2.1. Road engineering: i. Road Safety Audit (RSA) of all National Highways (NHs) has been made mandatory through third party auditors/ experts at all stages i.e. design, construction, operation and maintenance etc. ii. High priority is accorded to identification and rectification of black spots /accident spots on NHs. iii. Road Safety Officer (RSO) has been designated at each Regional Office of road owning agencies to look after RSA and other road safety related works. iv. Administers the electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) Project to establish a central repository for reporting, management and analysis of road accidents data across the Country. v. Issued guidelines for the provision of signages on Expressways and National Highways to offer improved visibility and intuitive guidance to the drivers.vi. Provisions have been made in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for failure to comply with standards for the road design, construction and maintenance, as prescribed by the Central Government from time to time. 2.2 Vehicle engineering: Various initiatives were undertaken to make vehicles safer, including the following:- i. Mandatory provision of an airbag for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver. ii. Prescribed norms related to safety measures for children below four years of age, riding or being carried on a motor cycle. It also specifies use of a safety harness, crash helmet and restricts speed to 40kmph. iii. Mandatory provisions for fitment of following listed safety technologies: - For M1 category vehicles: a. Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) for driver and co-driver. b. Manual Override for central locking system c. Over speed warning system. For all M and N category vehicles: a. Reverse Parking Alert System iv. Mandated Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) for certain classes of L [Motor vehicle with less than four wheels and includes a Quadricycle], M [Motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying passengers] and N [Motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying goods which may also carry persons in addition to goods, subject to conditions stipulated in BIS standards] categories. v. Mandated speed limiting function/speed limiting device in all transport vehicles, except for two wheelers, three wheelers, quadricycles, fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles. vi. Published the rules for recognition, regulation and control of Automated Testing Stations, which define the procedure for fitness testing of vehicles through automated equipment and the procedure for grant of fitness certificate by ATSs. The rules have been further amended on 31.10.2022 and 14.03.2024. vii. Formulated the Vehicle Scrapping Policy based on incentives/dis- incentives and for creating an ecosystem to phase out old, unfit and polluting vehicles.viii. Formulated a Scheme to set up one model Inspection & Certification Centre in each State/UT with Central assistance for testing the fitness of vehicles through an automated system. ix. Published rules regarding the Bharat New Car Assessment Program (BNCAP) to introduce the concept of safety rating of passenger cars and empower consumers to take informed decisions. x. Published rules regarding prescribed level playing field in the area of manufacturing of buses by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Bus Body Builders. xi. Mandated vehicles, manufactured on or after 1st October, 2025, shall be fitted with an air-conditioning system for the cabin of vehicles of N2 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 12.0 tonnes) and N3 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 12.0 tonnes) category. xii. Published rules for revision of standards for Safety Belt, Restraint Systems and Safety Belt Reminder to provide provisions for applicability of revised standards for safety belt assemblies, safety belt anchorages and the installation of Safety Belts and Restraint Systems, in Motor vehicles of category M,N and L7 w.e.f. 01st April, 2025. Further, the vehicles of category M1, manufactured on and after the 1st April 2025, shall meet the requirement of safety belt reminder for all front facing rear seats as per AIS-145-2018. xiii. Published rules for Active safety features in Medium and Heavy Duty vehicles, which provide for Braking System including Anti-lock Braking, Endurance Braking System for M2, M3, N1, N2, N3 and Quadricycle (effective for new models from 1st January, 2027 and for existing models from 1st October, 2027), and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) including Vehicle Stability Function (VSF), Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning Systems, Blind Spot Information Systems and Moving off Information Systems for M2, M3, N2 and N3 categories of vehicles (effective for new models from 1st October, 2027 and for existing models from 1st January, 2028). (3) Enforcement: i. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 as stands implemented provides for strict penalties for ensuring compliance and enhancing deterrence for violation of traffic rules and strict enforcement through use of technology. Traffic management and enforcement is essentially in the domain of State Governments/UT Administrations. While Central Government formulates rules under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, the enforcement of these rules comes under the purview of State Governments/UT Administrations.ii. Issued rules for Electronic Monitoring and Enforcement of Road Safety. The rules specify the detailed provisions for placement of electronic enforcement devices on high risk & high density corridors on National Highways, State Highways and critical junctions cities having a population of more than one million in the country and cities under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). iii. Government has issued guidelines for incentive to States for Implementation of Electronic Enforcement of Road Safety under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2025- 26 (SASCI 2025-26) with allocation of Rs. 3,000 Crore (on first come first serve basis). iv. On 10th June, 2024, the Government has issued an advisory to all the States and Union territories on technological interventions for ensuring compliance with Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. (4) Emergency care: i. Revised the scheme guidelines (named as Rah-Veer) for the protection of Good Samaritan, who in good faith, voluntarily and without expectation of any reward or compensation renders emergency medical or non-medical care or assistance at the scene of an accident to the victim or transports such victim to the hospital. As per the scheme, the reward for Rah-Veer has been increased to Rs. 25,000/- from Rs. 5,000/-. ii. Enhanced compensation of victims of Hit and Run motor accidents (from Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 50,000 for grievous hurt and from Rs. 25,000 to Rs.2,00,000 for death). iii. The National Highways Authority of India has made provisions for ambulances with paramedical staff/Emergency Medical Technician/Nurse at toll plazas on the completed corridors of National Highways. iv. Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified the Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme, 2025 on 5th May, 2025. The detailed guidelines including process flow, stakeholder wise standard operating procedures and clearly delineated roles and responsibilities have also been notified on 4th June, 2025. *****