Safety Last? Data Shows Spike In Number Of Road Deaths Due To Speeding, Drunk Driving

The Road Accident Report states that in 2017, 98 two-wheeler riders without helmets died and 79 car occupants died daily in accidents because they were not wearing seat belts. The use of mobile phones while driving also claimed about nine lives every day in 2017.

The report released on Monday, sourced from the data provided by state police and transport departments, shows a slight decrease in the total number of fatalities — from nearly 1.51 lakh in 2016 to about 1.48 lakh in 2017.

On the other hand, there has been a worrying increase in the number of people dying due to the failure to use safety devices.

The report shows that nearly 67% of road deaths were due to speeding. The data exposes that those 22,428 persons were killed in hit-and-run cases across the country and that drunk driving claimed 4,776 lives last year.

World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed three reasons for the rise in road deaths - failure to use safety devices, use of mobile phones, speeding and drunk driving as reported by TOI.