Crash, boom, bang! This city has the highest number of vehicle accidents in India

Delhi’s drivers are always ready for a fight, ready to use the ‘jaanta hai mera baap kaun hai?’ line to get out of traffic violations. Bangalore and Chennai are notorious for drivers who flout motoring rules like they were made to be broken. Mumbai, allegedly, has some of the country’s most responsible drivers, following norms in general.

Well, get ready to shatter those cherished beliefs.

According to Barclay’s report titled ‘Megatrends: Accelerating urbanization in India’, Mumbai leads the country in the number of accidents with over 10,000 in 2012. That’s a striking feat considering the city doesn’t even figure in the top five cities with the most vehicles in the nation.

Right behind Mumbai is Chennai (just under 10,000 accidents), Delhi (about 7,000) and Bangalore (approximately 5,500). Also of note is that while major metros and economic hubs predictably rank high on the accident index thanks to factors, such as poor road construction and high population density , Kolkata is nowhere on the list.

Another interesting fact: Indore, a non-metro, has an accident rate nearly as high as Bangalore.

Moral of the story: You might want to think twice next time you praise the motor traffic sense of a driver in Mumbai.