Gadkari said – Making bad roads should be a non-bailable offence: Road contractors and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and sent to jail.

At an event organized by industry body CII, Gadkari said that India is number 1 in the world in road accidents.

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday that building a wrong road should be made a non-bailable offence. Road contractors and engineers should be held responsible for road accidents and sent to jail.

At an event organized by industry body CII, Gadkari said that India is number 1 in the world in road accidents. Our target is to halve the number of people dying in road accidents by 2030.

Gadkari said that according to the ministry’s data, there were five lakh road accidents in 2023 in which 1.72 lakh deaths occurred. Of these, 66.4% i.e. 1.14 lakh people were in the age group of 18 to 45 years, while 10 thousand people were children. 55 thousand deaths occurred due to not wearing helmet and 30 thousand deaths occurred due to not wearing seat belt.

Gadkari also said that the Highway Ministry is spending Rs 40 thousand crore to remove black spots on the highways. He appealed to the industry and other stakeholders to work with the government to set up driver training and fitness centers so that the shortage of drivers in the country can be overcome.

Nitin Gadkari addressing the inaugural session of the 2nd National Conference on Road Safety – ‘Indian Roads @ 2030: Raising Safety Standards’.

Addressing 2nd Edition of National Conclave on Road Safety – ‘Indian Roads @ 2030 : Raising the Bar of Safety’

7.77 lakh deaths occurred in road accidents in five years

There have been 7.77 lakh deaths in road accidents in the country in the last 5 years. Maximum 1.08 lakh deaths have occurred in Uttar Pradesh. After this, Tamil Nadu is at second and third place with 84 thousand deaths and Maharashtra with 66 thousand deaths.

Based on data from 2018 to 2022 released by different states and union territories, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has released the ‘Road Accidents in India, 2022’ report. According to this, there were 1,53,972 deaths in road accidents in the country in 2021, which increased to 1,68,491 in 2022.

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had said on December 12 that we have the worst record regarding road accidents in the world. Whenever I go to attend an international conference and there is a discussion about road accidents, I try to hide my face.

There were 4.61 lakh road accidents in the country in 2022. According to the report, a total of 4,61,312 road accidents were recorded in the country in 2022, out of which 1,55,781 (33.8%) were fatal. In these accidents, 1,68,491 people died and 4,43,366 people were injured. Total road accidents increased by 11.9% in 2022 compared to 2021, while the number of deaths in road accidents increased by 9.4% and the number of injured by 15.3%.

33% accidents will happen on National Highway in 2022 Data on road accidents and deaths show that only 5% of the country’s road network is highways, but more than 55% of the accidents occur on them, with more than 60% of the total deaths. In 2022, 32.9% of total accidents and 36.2% of total deaths occurred on National Highways.

Gadkari had said that the aim was to reduce road accidents, but these have increased further.

During the discussion on road accidents in the Lok Sabha, Gadkari had said that Sweden has brought road accidents to zero and many other countries have also reduced it.

I am very transparent that is why I am telling that when I took charge of the Road Transport Ministry, I had set a target of reducing road accidents and deaths due to them by 50% by 2024.

Forget about reducing accidents, I have no shame in admitting that they have increased. That’s why I try to hide my face when road accidents are discussed in any international conference.

Gadkari said- I have experience of accidents Answering the question during the Question Hour, Nitin Gadkari said that the situation in India will change when there will be a change in human behavior and society and there will be respect for the law. While sharing his personal experience, he said that a few years ago he and his family met with a major road accident, in which he had to stay in the hospital for a long time. He said, ‘By the grace of God I and my family were saved. I have personal experience of accidents.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari answering questions on road accidents during Question Hour in Parliament.

Accidents increase due to parking of trucks on the road

Gadkari said parking of trucks on roads is a major cause of accidents and many trucks do not follow lane discipline. Gadkari said that he has ordered to adopt international standards for manufacturing bus bodies in India. He said that there should be a hammer near the window of the bus, so that in case of an accident the window can be easily broken.

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