Forced to hide face in global meets due to high number of road accidents: Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Without a social change and improvement in the behaviour of drivers, it is difficult to reduce the number of road accidents in the country, said Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday, adding that he is forced to “hide his face” in international meets due to the country’s poor record on road fatalities.

Replying to a question on road safety in Lok Sabha, Nitin Gadkari put the figure for annual road accident fatalities at 1.78 lahks, cautioning that road users should respect the law and a major change should come about in human behaviour to save lives on roads.

In a candid admission, the Minister said he aimed to bring down the number of accidents in the country by half when he joined the ministry but failed to do so as, despite the best of efforts, the number of accidents has risen over the years.

“I try to hide my face when I go to attend international conferences where there is a discussion on road accidents,” he said, referring to the country’s poor record on fatal accidents.

Claiming that 60 per cent of road accident victims are in the age group of 18-34 years, the Minister said Uttar Pradesh leads the chart among states with 23,000 road accident fatalities, followed by Tamil Nadu with over 18,000 deaths.

Delhi tops the list for cities with over 1,400 deaths, followed by Bengaluru with 915 deaths, he said.

Fatalities in road accidents from calendar year 2013 to 2022 stood at 15.02 lakh, said the minister, identifying the haphazard parking of trucks on roads as a major cause of accidents.

He said the Central Government annually publishes the report “Road Accidents in India” and, according to the 2022 report, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are the most vulnerable group, accounting for a large proportion of road traffic deaths.

In his reply, the Minister said road accidents are multi-causal phenomena and are the result of an interplay of various factors. These can broadly be categorised into - human error, road condition/environment and vehicular condition.

As per the Stockholm Declaration on Road Safety, India is committed to reducing the number of road traffic deaths and injuries to 50 per cent by 2030. The declaration emphasises the importance of a holistic approach to road safety, including improving the design of roads and vehicles; enhancing laws and law enforcement; and providing timely and life-saving emergency care for the injured.

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