Which city recorded the highest number of road accidents in India?

A whopping 1,412 people died on Delhi roads in 2022. That’s according to the ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2022’ report, which stated that Delhi accounted for the highest number of road accidents in the country — 5,387 — and recorded 1,412 deaths due to fatal road accidents. Most of the road accident deaths in 53 megacities, including Delhi, were caused due to over-speeding (51.5 per cent), followed by dangerous or careless driving/over-taking (31.3 per cent), and driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol (2.7 per cent). A total of 68,236 road accidents were reported in 53 cities across the country during 2022 and 57,246 people were injured in these crashes while 17,680 people lost their lives, according to the data. The NCRB report comprised road accidents, railway accidents, and railway crossing accidents — the three major contributors to accidental deaths. Road accidents accounted for 97.3 per cent of the total accidents, the report said. **Also Read: How many people were murdered in India in 2022? Which state tops the list?** Most of these accidents occurred near residential areas (29.1 per cent), followed by industrial areas (9.7 per cent), and areas surrounding educational institutions like schools and colleges (8.7 per cent). Delhi also topped the list of the cities with the maximum number of railway accidents as it accounted for 50.9 per cent of the total mishaps during 2022, the report said. Road accidents in India in 2022 The data shows that the national road safety condition has worsened since 2021. In 2021, there were around 4.12 lakh accidents, with 1.53 lakh persons killed. In 2022, there were 4.61 lakh accidents that resulted in 1.68 lakh deaths. This represents a 12 per cent rise in accidents and an 11 per cent increase in road accident mortality from 2021, noting that in 2021, there were additional closures due to COVID-19, which could have contributed to higher road safety numbers. [caption id=“attachment_13468412” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Delhi comes first in pedestrian deaths as well, with 629 pedestrians dying on the streets in 2022. File image/PTI[/caption] People on two-wheelers account for more than half of all fatalities, followed by pedestrians and then cars. In 2021, 69,385 two-wheeler users were killed; by 2022, that figure had risen to 74,897. In 2021, 29,124 pedestrians were killed in accidents, that rose to 32,825 in 2022, a 12.7 per cent increase year-on-year. While the high proportion of two-wheeler deaths can be attributed to their proportionate share of road vehicles, the high number of pedestrian deaths is cause for concern. The most accident-prone cities in India Among the 50 biggest cities in India with populations greater than one million, Delhi ranks first with 5652 accidents. Surprisingly, last year’s top-ranked city, Chennai, has dropped to fifth place. Apart from Delhi, the top 10 cities include Indore, Jabalpur, Bengaluru, Chennai, Bhopal, Malappuram, Jaipur, and Hyderabad. **Also Read: Cruelty by husband, kidnapping & more: How crimes against women are on the rise again in India** In terms of road accident deaths, Delhi again leads with 1,461, followed by Bengaluru with 772, which is nearly half of Delhi. Following that are Jaipur, Kanpur, and Indore. Though, Jabalpur and Bhopal are among the top 10 cities in terms of accident, they do not rank among the top 10 in terms of deaths. [caption id=“attachment_13468432” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Most of these accidents occurred near residential areas (29.1 per cent), followed by industrial areas (9.7 per cent), and areas surrounding educational institutions like schools and colleges (8.7 per cent). File image/PTI[/caption] While Madhya Pradesh had three cities in the top 10 when it came to accidents, Uttar Pradesh has four in the top 10 – Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra and Allahabad (Prayagraj) – in fatalities. Chennai, which had 998 deaths in 2021, lowers to 507 deaths, nearly half the figure from the previous year. Pedestrians are at high risk Close to 40 per cent of the road accident fatalities in metros is of pedestrians. Delhi comes first in pedestrian deaths as well, with 629 pedestrians dying on the streets in 2022. Apart from being a large number by itself, it is also a 25 per cent increase from 2021. Bengaluru comes in second place with 247 deaths, a 50 per cent rise over the previous year. Of the 118 additional deaths in 2022 over 2021, 87 were of pedestrians; pedestrian fatalities form the bulk of the increase in fatalities in Bengaluru. With inputs from PTI