2021 saw 225,207 road accidents on national, state highways: Ministry

A total of 225,207 road accidents took place on National Highways (NHs) and State Highways (SHs) in the country in 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a release.

The year 2019 saw a total of 137,191 accidents on NHs while 116,496 accidents took place in 2020. The year 2021 witnessed 128,825 accidents on NHs.

90,755 accidents took place in 2020 on SHs whereas the year 2019 saw a total of 108,976 accidents. The year 2021 saw 96,382 accidents on SHs.

On July 20, the road ministry quoted the 2021 data, which it received from the police department of all states and Union Territories and said the total number of road accident fatalities in 2021 is 153,972, “which translate, on an average, into 18 deaths every hour”.

Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari attended iRASTE NXT Conference in the National Capital on July 24. At the event, the minister said a solution needs to be found for the same as this is a very serious issue.

Last week, Nitin Gadkari launched the Centre for Advancement of Road Traffic Safety (CARTS) in New Delhi. The centre seeks to function as an operational nerve-centre for implementing road safety projects across the country. CARTS will employ tech-based solutions to evaluate crash blackspots and make improvements.