Tamil Nadu saw sharpest rise in road accident deaths last year

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu recorded the sharpest increase in road deaths in 2021 while states including Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana and Jharkhand recorded a drop in the number of such fatalities compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to the latest government data.
The other states that saw an increase in fatalities were Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar.
The road transport ministry on Wednesday submitted the road deaths of the past five years in the Rajya Sabha. including 2021, though it has not yet published last year's accidents report.
The data submitted to the Upper House show that Tamil Nadu recorded 15,384 road fatalities in 2021 compared to 10,525 deaths in 2019. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh recorded 12,057 road deaths during last year compared to 11,249 in 2019. Though in overall numbers, UP registered maximum 21,227 fatalities last year among all states and UTs, this was less than the road deaths reported during 2018 and 2019.
Road safety experts have been maintaining that the trend of increase in road deaths across several states even after the central government amended the Central Motor Vehicle Act incorporating provisions for higher fine and stricter penalty is a serious matter. They said until there is effective enforcement by the agencies concerned, it would be impossible to put checks on road fatalities.
India signed the global declaration to cut road deaths by 50% by 2030, which is an ambitious target considering the rise in such fatalities. According to the road transport ministry's data, 1.54 lakh people lost their lives in road accidents during 2021 compared to 1.51 lakh during 2019.