Over 153,000 people died in 412,000 road accidents in 2021: MoRTH report

A total of 412,432 road accidents occured in 2021 which claimed 153,972 lives while 384,448 people injured, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

A total of 4,12,432 road accidents occured in 2021 calendar year which claimed 1,53,972 lives while 3,84,448 people injured, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

The report titled 'Road accidents in India -- 2021', said major indicators related with accidents have performed better in 2021 when compared to 2019.

"Road accidents decreased by 8.1 per cent and injuries decreased by 14.8 per cent in 2021 compared to 2019.

"Fatalities, however, on account of road accidents increased by 1.9 per cent in 2021 corresponding 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 COVID-19 pandemic and resultant stringent nation-wide lockdown particularly during March-April, 2020 followed by gradual unlocking and phasing out of the containment measures, it said.

The report is based on the data/information received from police departments of states/Union Territories collected on 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 Data (APRAD) base project.