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It is very rare that one comes across a senior minister in India making a candid admission of the failings and flaws in the department under his or her watch.  When the Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari, who has been handling the portfolio since 2014, went public some time ago about the reasons for the growing number of road accidents in the country, it came as a refreshing departure from the usual official versions that one gets to hear.

 

He hit the nail on the head when he said that defective road designs and faulty DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) prepared by engineers and consultants were responsible for the ever-increasing road fatalities. What is worse, there is zero accountability. Despite being a major cause of accidents, flawed road designs rarely get due attention from policymakers and other stakeholders. The general tendency is to blame reckless driving and poor law enforcement for mishaps. This virtually absolves the people involved in the planning and execution of road projects of any responsibility.

 

India’s dubious distinction

 

A global report on road accidents presents a bleak scenario for India. It has earned the dubious distinction of being the road mishaps capital of the world, reporting more than 20 deaths every hour, most of the victims being young adults. In a grim paradox, India has the second-largest road network in the world, after the United States, but it has been recording the highest number of road accident deaths globally year after year.

 

For instance, in 2023, over 1.8 lakh people died in over 4.80 lakh road mishaps across the country — a staggering average of 500 lives snuffed out every day.

 

What is more disturbing is that nearly two-thirds of the victims were aged between 18 and 45 — the most active segment of society and often the breadwinners for their households.

 

While national highways constitute only about 2 per cent of India’s total road network length, they account for over 30 per cent of all road accident deaths nationwide. This highlights the intense traffic volumes, higher speeds, and potentially complex safety challenges inherent to these major corridors. With just 1 per cent of the global vehicle count, India accounts for nearly 11 per cent of worldwide road fatalities, making its roads among the most perilous globally.

 

Ambitious target

 

The government has set an ambitious target to halve road accident deaths and injuries by 2030. However, this may remain elusive unless multiple challenges to road safety are addressed in earnest.

 

There are multiple factors responsible for the growing fatalities: reckless driving, excessive speed, driving under the influence, inadequate road design, weak enforcement of traffic regulations, insufficient emergency response, and lack of public awareness.

 

Despite the efforts of successive governments and investments, India's roads remain among the most unsafe in the world. Experts say this is a crisis rooted not just in infrastructure, but in human behaviour, enforcement gaps, and systemic neglect. Road accidents impose a significant economic burden, costing the country 3 per cent of its annual GDP.

 

Way back in 2017, the Supreme Court had issued a series of guidelines on road safety, including the constitution of a State Road Safety Council and Road Safety Fund, formulation of road safety action plans, and setting up of district-level road safety committees and trauma care centres.

 

Also Read: How AI can save lives on Indian roads

 

Gadkari’s prescription

 

Known for his outspokenness, Gadkari lamented that even small things like road signages and marking systems are very poor in the country. India needs to learn from countries like Spain, Austria, and Switzerland in this regard.

 

Because of small civil engineering mistakes, hundreds of deaths occur on Indian roads. It is also not uncommon to see even newly-built roads develop cracks. Unfortunate motorists suffer due to the lapses made by engineers and other officials. Terrible road conditions, utter disregard for traffic rules, ramshackle vehicles, and the dangerous mix of vehicular traffic and untrained drivers make driving on Indian roads a nightmarish experience.

 

A major obstacle is the fragmented management of road safety. Responsibilities are dispersed among transport departments, law enforcement, local authorities, and the healthcare sector, often leading to unclear accountability. Effective risk reduction requires organisational cohesion and strong legal backing.

 

Experts have suggested that roads should be designed with safety as the top priority, by segregating traffic flows, ensuring secure pedestrian crossings, and implementing intelligent traffic management systems (ITMS) that adjust to traffic and weather changes.

 

The laws governing transportation are archaic and need a complete overhaul. Strong legislation that imposes tougher penalties not only on traffic rule violators but also on road designers and engineers is necessary to control the growing indiscipline on India’s roads. However, stringent laws alone are not enough. The focus should be on effective implementation, sensitising traffic enforcement authorities about the new guidelines and, more importantly, ensuring total compliance from road users.

 

Establishing a National Road Safety Authority could provide essential integration. And technology tools — ranging from GIS mapping and AI monitoring to drone evaluations — can come in handy to improve road safety. AI-driven traffic surveillance systems can detect violations in real time — whether it is speeding, lane violations, or running red lights — and initiate automatic fines.

 

It is rather surprising that road accidents are not included under the ambit of the disaster management framework in India. This is a big hindrance to emergency response. Another glaring lapse in India is the slow emergency response systems. For accident victims, the first hour is considered the ‘golden hour’ within which they need to get medical care.

 

Unfortunately, such issues of immense public interest never figure in the agendas of political parties in India. India is a signatory to the United Nations road safety plan which aims to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2030. When over-speeding, illegal overtaking, travelling without seatbelts, and jumping lights go unchecked and unpunished, every stretch of road becomes a public safety risk. Hopefully, Gadkari’s tough talk will help in bringing about a transformation on the ground.

 

 Also Read: Indian roads ring a death knell, but are we alarmed?