Data | In 2021, over 1.5 lakh died in road accidents, most were young men speeding on two-wheelers

A median road accident victim is a male aged between 18 and 45 who drives a two-wheeler and carelessly drives or overtakes other vehicles or is speeding

Picture used for representational purpose

The number of people killed in road accidents (1,55,622) in 2021 reached the highest level at least since 2014. While the number of accidents was below pre-pandemic levels, the number of related deaths surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Overspeeding was the reason for over half the road accidents in 2021. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of such deaths in 2021 followed by Tamil Nadu. A median road accident victim is a male aged between 18 and 45 who drives a two-wheeler and carelessly drives or overtakes other vehicles or is speeding.

Accidents and deaths

The chart shows the number of road accidents (blue), number of injured (red) and number of related deaths (yellow , right-axis) in India. In 2021, the number of deaths surpassed the pre-pandemic levels. However, accidents were fewer in number. In 2020, accidents and deaths were much lower than usual due to pandemic-related restrictions.

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State-wise deaths

The map shows the State-wise number of road accident deaths recorded in 2021. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of deaths followed by Tamil Nadu.

Share of deaths

The charts show the % share of road accident deaths in 2021 across various categories.

Share of road accident deaths by age (%)

Share of road accident deaths in 2021 by gender (%)

Cause of road accidents (%)

Vehicular share of road accidents (%)

Source: NCRB