Roads accidents increased by 58.4% from 1990 to 2017 in India: Lancet Study

Hyderabad: Death by road accidents increased by 58.4% from 1990 to 2017, In India, says a recent study published in The Lancet Public Health magazine. According to the survey, men are more prone to road accidents than women are.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Indian Council of Medical Research funded the study. It collected data from various government sources and found that the number of deaths due to road accidents increased from 137,901 deaths in 1990 to 218,876 in 2019.

In 2017, around 167,830 males and 51,046 females died due to road accidents. The study states that the number of deaths among men from 1990 to 2017 increased by 2.3%, while among women, it increased by 0.8%.

The study has classified road accidents in four categories:

Pedestrian Deaths

Pedestrian deaths accounted for 76,729 of all deaths due to road injuries in India in 2017, states the study. Female pedestrians are the most affected in the category, figuring around 44.8% of the total. Meanwhile, 32.1% are male. Pedestrian deaths were high in Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Punjab. The lowest rates were in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.

Motorcyclist

In 2017, about 67,524 motorcyclists died in road accidents. The study states that the death rate was the highest among men between the ages of 20–59, while the rate was higher among females above 30 years. Around 34.6% of males and 18.6% of females died of motorcycle accidents in 2017.

Motor vehicle occupants

The study states that about 57,802 pillion riders died in 2017. Death of female pillion riders was more compared to the death of male pillion riders. In the same year, 16,402 female pillion rides died of a road accident, while 41,401 deaths were male.

Cyclist

Deaths among cyclists accounted for 15,324 (7.0%) of all road injury deaths in India in 2017. Around 8% of males and 3.6% of female cyclists died of road accidents.

The study says that 77% of more men died in accidents compared to women. According to the survey, road-accidents are under-reported, making it difficult to get records.