'Road Accidents Killed More People Than Any War': Nitin Gadkari In Parliament

The number of people killed in road accidents in India is more than casualties in a war or the Covid pandemic, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in parliament today.

He asked MPs to run road safety campaigns in their constituencies. Most of the accidents have been attributed to people disregarding traffic rules as insignificant to how they should drive, Gadkari added.

"I have to say this with profound grief that road accidents are linked to human behaviour. There is no regard for road safety rules. About 1.80 lakh lives are lost every year in road accidents which is more than the lives lost in any war or Covid pandemic. Young people are losing lives," Gadkari said during question hour in parliament.

Sharing data, he said five lakh road accidents happen every year, taking 1.8 lakh lives, mostly of young people. He requested Speaker Om Birla to call a separate discussion on road safety measures to get suggestions from MPs to deal with the problem.

The highest number of road accident deaths happened among those in the 18-34 age group, accounting for 66 per cent. The union minister lamented that not much improvement has been seen in people's behaviour on the roads despite the ministry carrying out campaigns to educate and sensitise people about road safety norms.

Birla, taking Gadkari's suggestions, asked all MPs to run campaigns for road safety.

"I'm hopeful that in the next session all MPs will come with positive suggestions on road safety and we can have a discussion. We all have to work together," Birla said.

Gadkari also reminded people about a scheme called 'rah-veer' under which a person who takes any road accident victim to a hospital would be given Rs 25,000.