The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Tuesday said it is committed to cutting down the number of deaths and injuries in road accidents by taking organised steps. Speaking at the panel discussion during the ‘Road Safety Week’, Road Transport & Highways Ministry Director Gaurav Gupta said, “The Ministry is highly committed to bringing down road fatalities by taking organised steps which include rectification of accident black for improved road engineering, training of drivers, awareness generation campaigns to name a few.”
Road fatalities not only lead to significant human sufferings but also drain the GDP of the country by claiming lakhs of economically productive young lives, he said.
“Ministry along with all the stakeholders is putting forth efforts for making roads and vehicles as safe as possible. To achieve the desired target, a complete paradigm shift in the behaviour of road users is necessary,” Gupta was quoted as saying in a statement by FICCI.
There is a need for social awareness and mass movement to inculcate safer road behaviour and habits to bring changes, he explained.
A total of 4,12,432 road accidents occurred in 2021 calendar year which claimed 1,53,972 lives while 3,84,448 people injured, according to a new report released by MoRTH.
The report titled ‘Road accidents in India- 2021’, said major indicators related to 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.
