A total of 4,12,432 road accidents took place in the calendar year 2021, claiming 1,53,972 lives and 3,84,448 injuries, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH).
The report titled “Road Accidents in India – 2021″ states that major accident-related indicators performed better in 2021 than in 2019. “The number of traffic accidents decreased by 8.1 percent and injuries by 14.8 percent in 2021 compared to 2019. “However, the death rate due to traffic accidents increased by 1.9 percent in 2021, which corresponds to the same period in 2019,” it said.
According to the report, in 2020 the country saw an unprecedented decrease in accidents, fatalities and injuries. This was due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent strict nationwide lockdown, especially during March-April 2020, followed by the gradual unlocking and gradual lifting of the restrictive measures, the company said.
The report is based on data/information received from police departments of States/Union Territories collected on a calendar year basis in standardized formats as provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) under the Asia-Pacific Road Accident Database Project ( APRAD).
