look news india
Traveling on Indian roads is now proving to be most dangerous and deadly not only for the drivers but also for the common citizens walking on foot. According to the latest and extremely shocking report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, more than 1.8 lakh pedestrians have died tragically due to road accidents in the country between 2019 and 2024.
If we analyze the statistics, on an average more than 30,500 people are killed every year just because they were walking on the road. Road safety experts believe that the pedestrian fatality rate in India is the highest in the world, which raises a big question mark on the country’s infrastructure.
Deaths on National Highways: 31 percent of pedestrians become victims on expressways and highways.
The figures revealed in the government report are giving sleepless nights to policy makers and road construction agencies. According to the data, about 31% of the total pedestrian deaths during this 5-year period have been fatal accidents on National Highways alone.
Apart from this, the latest data of the year 2024 has also made it clear that about 54% of the deaths of pedestrians were due to direct collision between speeding two-wheelers (bikes) and cars. Road safety experts say that due to the severe lack of proper infrastructure like safe footpaths and zebra crossings in India, people are forced to take to the roads risking their lives.
Supreme Court’s historic decision: Walking is now a ‘fundamental right’ of citizens
The Supreme Court of the country has taken very strict cognizance of the figures of blood flowing on the streets and increasing dead bodies. The Supreme Court has made it clear in one of its historic orders that walking safely on the road is a fundamental right of the citizens.
The apex court made it clear that this right of pedestrians to use the footpath is fully guaranteed under Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Indian Constitution. Along with this, the court has given strict directions to the Central and State Governments to formulate a strict and effective law to create clearly demarcated footpaths for all road users.
Worst condition in Tamil Nadu and Bihar: See the scary list of states
According to this 2024 report of the Road Transport Ministry, Tamil Nadu has emerged as the most unsafe state in the country for pedestrians, where the maximum number of deaths of 4,712 pedestrians was recorded. Bihar (4,149 deaths) is at second place in this list, while Maharashtra (3,344) is at third place and West Bengal (3,241) is at fourth place.
Surprisingly, a total of 4,328 pedestrians died in the country’s 53 major metros and big cities with a population of more than 10 lakh, which is only 11.8% of the total figure in the country. This means that many times more pedestrians than in cities are dying on the highways passing through rural areas and towns.
Roads are being built only for vehicles: elderly, children and disabled are the most helpless
Amar Srivastava, head of India Road Safety Campaign, a youth-led social organisation, said these figures clearly show the dire need for government road agencies to find out the exact causes of accidents occurring outside major urban areas.
At the same time, former Joint Secretary Abhay Damle, who took charge of road safety, said that we have very world class standards of footpaths set by ‘Indian Roads Congress’ on paper, but the main problem is not the lack of standards but the complete failure of the system to implement them at the ground level. Today, most of the roads in the country are being built keeping in mind only the speed of vehicles, due to which children, senior citizens and disabled people are most at risk. Meanwhile, the Amicus Curiae of the Supreme Court has also given an important suggestion of installing clear warning boards prohibiting the entry of pedestrians on the highways.
