17 people were killed in road accidents each and every hour in 2015 on average. (File photo)
Nearly one lakh, forty nine thousand people were killed in road accidents in India in 2015, a 5.1 per cent increase in total accident fatalities in India from 2014. The latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau or NCRB has revealed that, on an average, 17 people were killed in road accidents each and every hour in 2015.
According to data from the report which NDTV has been able to access, 10.5 per cent of all fatalities during road accidents were children below the age of 18. The maximum fatalities in road accidents were reported in Uttar Pradesh (12.4 per cent) followed by Tamil Nadu (10.5 per cent) and Maharashtra (9.2 per cent) in 2015.
According to Piyush Tewari, the Founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, a partner of NDTV in our Diageo-NDTV Road Safety Campaign, "The trend of increasing deaths reiterates the fact that road users must be protected through a comprehensive legislation. It has been over four months since the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill was introduced in parliament. The delay in passing the bill is causing irreparable harm to the country with 17 people getting killed every hour in road crashes in India."
India has the worst road safety standards in the world, a fact repeatedly outlined in World Health Organisation reports and backed up by the government's own reports. The NCRB data shows that as many as 43,540 people were killed in accidents involving two-wheelers. Dangerous or careless driving or overtaking resulted in the death of 48,093 deaths. More Indians die each and every year in road accidents than the total casualties suffered by India's armed forces in all the wars fought since independence.