India’s roads are becoming deadlier in 2024, with the number of road accident deaths rising to 177,175, up 2.5% from 1,72,890 in 2023, according to the latest India Road Accidents 2024 report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The country recorded 487,707 road accidents during the year, an increase of 1.5% over the previous year.
The 2024 toll is much higher than the 10-year average of about 154,000 deaths per year between 2014 and 2023. On average, in 2024, India will see approximately 485 deaths per day and 20.2 deaths every hour compared to 473 deaths in 2023, i.e. 19.7 deaths every 60 minutes.
While the number of deaths rose, the rate of deaths per 10,000 vehicles continued to decline over the long term – falling from 7.3 in 2014 to 4.8 in 2022 – as the number of vehicles rose from 191 million in 2014 to 354 million in 2024, suggesting that safety improvements struggled to keep pace with the rapid movement of cars and the increase in the length of roads.
Cities show little improvement
Indian cities with a population of more than 50 million recorded a marginal reduction of 0.4% in road deaths. Among these cities, Delhi recorded the highest number of accidents (5,657), deaths (1,551) and injuries (5,224) in 2024. The national capital also reported 147 pedestrian deaths at crossings, among the highest in the country.
Bengaluru ranked second nationally in both accidents and fatalities, recording 4,769 accidents and 894 deaths during 2024. Chennai reported 3,762 accidents, the fifth highest among cities with a million-plus numbers, and 542 deaths, placing it 10th on this measure. Mumbai recorded 2,604 accidents and 2,722 injuries, ranking it 11th and ninth, respectively, while 370 deaths placed it 16th nationally. Kolkata reported the lowest casualty burden among the five major metros, with 1,942 accidents and 191 fatalities, ranking 18th and 37th respectively.
Ahmedabad recorded 125 fewer deaths during the year, followed by Dhanbad with 95 fewer deaths and Kanpur with 78 fewer deaths. Despite the overall improvement, several major metros continued to account for a large share of urban road trauma.
Hit and run kills more
Hit-and-run cases recorded the largest rise in road fatalities in India in 2024, with fatalities increasing by 9.0% year-on-year to 34,030, accounting for 19.2% of all road fatalities in the country.
Rear-end collisions (“rear-hit”) remained the single largest contributor to road deaths, claiming 37,404 lives and accounting for 21.1% of all deaths. Deaths in this category increased by 1.6% compared to 2023.
Head-on collisions were responsible for 28,400 deaths, or 16.0% of all road deaths, although deaths in this category decreased by 1.7% year-on-year.
Deaths from side collisions (“side impact”) rose by 5.3% during the year, indicating the increasing severity of such accidents. In contrast, crashes with parked cars recorded the most significant improvement, with deaths decreasing by 20.4% from 2023 levels.
Broad trends stay in place
The report also reinforced some trends in road deaths in past decades, with motorcyclists (46.2%) followed by pedestrians at 20.6%. Although national highways constitute only 2.1% of India’s road network, they contributed to 36.6% of deaths, while excessive speed was the cause of 70.3% of the total deaths resulting from road accidents. The 18-45 age group accounted for 66.1% of all road traffic fatalities in 2024. The share rises to 83.3% when taking into account the broader working-age population of 18-60 years. Rural areas accounted for 70.8% of deaths, which confirms the continued disparity between rural and urban areas in road safety outcomes. The severity of accidents, measured by the number of people killed per 100 accidents, rose to 36.3 in 2024 from 36 in 2023. The figure has risen steadily from 20.1 in 2000, indicating that road accidents are becoming increasingly fatal.
Straight roads remained the deadliest feature, claiming 118,817 lives (67.1% share) compared to 114,447 in 2023, while pothole-related deaths rose 10.4% to 2,385 despite a 7% drop in overall pothole accidents.
“Speed is the biggest reason crashes are concentrated on straight stretches of road,” said S Velmurugan, senior advisor at the National Council of Applied Economic Research and former scientist at the Central Road Research Institute. “Drivers often exceed posted speed limits on these stretches, and when combined with factors like pedestrian crossings, wrong-side driving, and unsafe use of median openings, the risk of severe crashes rises sharply. The high number of crashes on straight stretches is therefore the result of multiple interacting factors rather than That from any single cause.”
Rohit Baluja, President, Road Traffic Education Institute, said, “These numbers are not just statistics; they reflect the continuing failure to identify and address the root causes of road accidents. Numbers alone do not save lives. India’s road accident statistics tell us how many people died, but not why they died. Without scientific investigation of accidents and diagnosis of causal and consequential factors, we will continue to treat symptoms rather than the disease. Improving road safety requires systematic solutions based on evidence, not assumptions.”
The report also recorded some improvements. On the state’s highways, accidents and fatalities fell by 2.01% and 0.41%, respectively, compared to 2023. Non-use of helmets and seatbelts continued to claim a significant number of lives on Indian roads in 2024, although these specific categories saw a marginal decline. Deaths related to not wearing helmets decreased slightly from 54,568 in 2023 to 54,122 in 2024. Driver deaths actually increased from 39,160 to 39,470, while passenger deaths saw an even greater decline, falling from 15,408 to 14,652 over the past year related to helmet use.
A more pronounced improvement was seen in deaths related to not using seat belts, which fell by about 9.7% from 16,025 in 2023 to 14,466 in 2024. This decline was reflected in both categories of vehicle occupants, with driver deaths falling from 8,441 to 7,489 and passenger deaths falling from 7,584 to 6,977. Several states reported a decrease in the total number of accidents compared to 2017. 2023, most notably Haryana (-6.3%), Gujarat (-4.7%), and Andhra Pradesh (-2.0%).
Tamil Nadu continued to report the highest number of road accidents in the country, recording 67,526 cases, or 13.8% of the national total. Uttar Pradesh remained the deadliest state, with 24,118 deaths, or 13.6% of total road deaths. Among the states, Mizoram had the highest accident severity at 93.2 deaths per 100 accidents, followed by Bihar at 80.5 and Jharkhand at 79.2.
The electronic detailed incident reporting (e-DAR) system is being used to build a real-time, geo-tagged database of incidents to support targeted interventions, the report said. The report also points out that there are limitations in the data relating to West Bengal and specifically the Durgapur-Asansol region. Because these regions did not report information in the prescribed standardized formats, their figures have been restated using aggregated e-DAR data and historical reporting structures for 2023 to maintain consistency at the national level.
The report also differs from data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which was released in May. While the Department of Transport and Communications recorded 177,175 road deaths in 2024, the National Council for Health Research reported 162,500 deaths specifically attributed to negligence. The gap of about 14,600 deaths is due to differences in classification methodologies. The Ministry of Health and Community Protection attributed 70.3% of deaths to excessive speed, while the National Council for Health Care reported A lower percentage was 61.2% for the same violation.
