Hit-and-run cases lead to 18% of India's road accident fatalities

The world’s oldest marathon runner, 114-year-old Fauja Singh from Punjab, died in a ‘hit-and-run’ accident on July 14. The case has once again brought the rising number of such accidents and other road safety issues in India into the spotlight. According to official data, hit-and-run cases in India rose from 53,334 in 2014 to 67,387 in 2022. Under provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, offenders can face up to 10 years imprisonment. Additionally, the number of compensation claims settled rose from 719 in 2020-21 to 1,086 in 2022-23.

 

Hits from behind cause most road accidents 

In 2022, hit-from-back cases accounted for 21.4 per cent of all road accidents and 19.5 per cent of total road deaths in India. Hit-and-run cases made up 14.6 per cent of road accidents and accounted for 18.1 per cent of all road deaths 

 

Overspeeding leads 

Overspeeding remains the leading cause of road accidents in India. It accounted for 72.5 per cent of all road accidents in 2020, and this stayed almost unchanged at 72.4 per cent in 2022 

 

Convictions below 60% 

Around 40-60 per cent of drivers involved in hit-and-run cases are convicted. The conviction rate rose from 44.4 per cent in 2017 to 58.1 per cent in 2020, but dropped to 47.9 per cent in 2022. Pendency in these cases remains high, rising from 87.9 per cent as of 2017 to 96.9 per cent as of 2021, before declining to 93 per cent as of 2022