One person dies every four minutes in road accidents in India, according to figures released by an NGO working on safer roads.
Estimating the cost of such accidents at Rs 3.8 lakh crore or 3 per cent of the GDP, the NGO, ‘Indians for Road Safety’ further said that the figure may increase to one death in three minutes by 2020.
“Safer vehicles are one of the pillars in planning and implementing road safety. We have come across some international labels that have compromised on safety standards. There is an urgent need to curb such a lackadaisical approach towards passenger safety,” Kiran K Kapila, chairman, International Road Federation (India Chapter) said.
“In a country that has the second largest road network in the world, it is a pity that one million Indians lost their lives to road accidents in the last decade,” he said.
According to the data provided by SaveLife Foundation, Uttar Pradesh amounted for maximum number of road accident deaths in 2014. Tamil Nadu stood second with 15,176 deaths.
Delhi recorded 1,671 deaths. In 2013, over 4,43,000 road accidents were reported in India with 1,47,423 deaths as a result.
It was also revealed that half of all the deaths on the country’s roads are among vulnerable road users —motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists.
