Road traffic deaths in India, down during the pandemic, are back with a vengeance. In 2021 traffic mishaps claimed an average 421 lives a day, back on the steady upwards trajectory seen before COVID-19 lockdowns.
It’s a cruel irony in India that the states with better road infrastructure, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, have higher rates of fatalities. India has much work to do if it is to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal of reducing road accident deaths by 50 percent by 2030. Starting with road improvements based on evidence relevant to India.
Traffic accident patterns in India are substantially different from those of North America and Western Europe.
