India tops world in road crash deaths: World Bank

New Delhi, February 16, 2021 (PPI-OT): With just one per cent of the world’s vehicles, India accounts for 11 per cent of the global death in road accidents, the highest in the world, according to a report by the World Bank. The country accounts for about 4.5 lakh road crashes per annum, in which 1.5 lakh people die. “India tops the world in road crash deaths and injuries. It has 1 per cent of the world’s vehicles but accounts for 11 per cent of all road crash deaths, witnessing 53 road crashes every hour; killing 1 person every 4 minutes,” the report said.

In the last decade, 13 lakh people died and another 50 lakh got injured on Indian roads, it said. “Considering the under reporting phenomenon and using the crash ratios for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways crash numbers”, the report estimates the crash costs at Rs 5.96 lakh crore or 3.14 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The 2019 World Bank report, titled ‘Guide for Road Safety Opportunities and Challenges: Low- and Middle-Income Countries Country Profiles’, puts the road crash and serious injury cost estimate at 7.5 per cent of India’s GDP or Rs 12.9 lakh crore for 2016. It is more than twice the figure cited by the government at 3 per cent of GDP or Rs 4.3 lakh crore, it added.

Globally, road traffic injuries (RTIs) are the eighth leading cause of death. According to the World Bank, the road crash fatality rate is three times higher in low-income countries compared to high-income countries, and statistics from India further reinforce this global trend.

There is a distinct correlation between socio-economic status and road use patterns in low- and middle-income countries like India and “poor people are more likely to be involved in a road traffic crash”, it said. In a country like India, where vulnerable road users are forced to share space with other less vulnerable road users, the income level of an individual has a direct bearing on the mode of transport used.

This in turn further determines the level of risk faced by a particular road user. The report said daily wage workers and workers employed as casual labourers in informal activities are more prone to be defined as vulnerable compared to workers engaged in regular activities.

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