Lok Sabha Question No. 6401 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-02
Subject: Road Accidents
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Shri Lalji Verma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6401 ANSWERED ON 02 ND  APRIL, 2026

## ROAD ACCIDENTS

6401.         SHRI LALJI VERMA:

## Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  approximately  1.68  lakh,  1.72  lakh  and  1.88  lakh persons died in road accidents in the country during the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively;
- (b) whether the Government admits that on an average more than 500 persons lose their lives every day in road accidents;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  considering  the  formation  of  a dedicated Road Safety Force to strengthen road traffic management and safety systems; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

(a) to (d)   Government publishes report on 'Road Accidents in India' based on data received from States/ UTs. As per the report, details of total number of road accidents and fatalities on all categories of roads in the country, during the year 2022 to 2024 is given below:-

|   YearRoad AccidentsFatalities |   YearRoad AccidentsFatalities |   YearRoad AccidentsFatalities |
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|                           2022 |                         461312 |                         168491 |
|                           2023 |                         480583 |                         172890 |
|                           2024 |                         487707 |                         177175 |

Government has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4E's i.e. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. Accordingly, various initiatives have been taken for road safety in the country as detailed at Annexure.

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6401 ANSWERED ON 02 ND  APRIL, 2026 ASKED BY SHRI LALJI VERMA REGARDING ROAD ACCIDENTS.

Details of various initiatives taken by the Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for road safety : -

- (1)        Education:
- i.        Administers  a  scheme  for  setting  up  of  Institutes  of  Driving Training  &  Research  (IDTRs),  Regional  Driving  Training  Centres (RDTCs) and Driving Training Centres (DTCs) at State/district level across the Country. Recently revised scheme guidelines have been issued, incorporating enhanced financial assistance and streamlined eligibility criteria for establishing Driving Training Institutes. Additionally, incentives have been introduced for setting up  Automated  Testing  Stations  (ATS)  in  conjunction  with  Driving Training Institutes (DTIs) under the Training-Testing Cluster approach.
- ii.         Observance  of  National  Road  Safety  Month  every  year  for spreading awareness and strengthening road safety.
- (2)     Engineering :
5. 2.1.    Road engineering:
- i.        Road  Safety  Audit  (RSA)  of  all  National  Highways  (NHs)  has been  made  mandatory  through  third  party  auditors/  experts  at  all stages i.e. design, construction, operation and maintenance etc.
- ii.      High  priority  is  accorded  to  identification  and  rectification  of
8. black spots /accident spots on NHs.
- iii.     Road  Safety  Officer  (RSO)  has  been  designated  at  each Regional  Office  of  road  owning  agencies   to  look  after  RSA  and other road safety related works.
- iv.     Administers  the  electronic  Detailed  Accident  Report  (e-DAR) Project to establish a central repository for reporting, management and analysis of road accidents data across the Country.
- v.      Issued guidelines for the provision of signages on Expressways and National Highways to offer improved visibility and intuitive guidance to the drivers.
- vi.     Provisions have been made in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for failure  to  comply  with  standards  for  the  road  design,  construction and  maintenance,  as  prescribed  by  the  Central  Government  from time to time.

## 2.2    Vehicle engineering:

Various initiatives were undertaken to make vehicles safer, including the following:-

- i.       Mandatory provision of an airbag for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.
- ii.        Prescribed  norms  related  to  safety  measures  for  children below four years of age, riding or being carried on a motor cycle. It also  specifies  use  of  a  safety  harness,  crash  helmet  and  restricts speed to 40kmph.
- iii.      Mandatory  provisions  for  fitment  of  following  listed  safety technologies: -

For M1 category vehicles:

- Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) for driver and co-driver.
- a.
- b. Manual Override for central locking system
- c.
- a.
- Over speed warning system.

For all M and N category vehicles:

- Reverse Parking Alert System
- iv.            Mandated  Anti-Lock  Braking  System  (ABS)  for  certain classes of L [Motor vehicle with less than four wheels and includes a Quadricycle], M [Motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying  passengers]  and  N  [Motor  vehicles  with  at  least  four wheels  used  for  carrying  goods  which  may  also  carry  persons  in addition to goods, subject to conditions stipulated in BIS standards] categories.
- v.     Mandated  speed  limiting  function/speed  limiting  device  in  all transport vehicles, except for two wheelers, three wheelers, quadricycles, fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles.
- vi.     Published  the  rules  for  recognition,  regulation  and  control  of Automated Testing Stations, which define the procedure for fitness testing of vehicles through automated equipment and the procedure for grant of fitness certificate by ATSs. The rules have been further amended on 31.10.2022 and 14.03.2024.
- vii. Formulated the Vehicle Scrapping Policy based on incentives/dis-incentives  and  for  creating  an  ecosystem  to  phase out old, unfit and polluting vehicles.
- viii.   Formulated  a  Scheme  to  set  up  one  model  Inspection  & Certification  Centre  in  each  State/UT  with  Central  assistance  for testing the fitness of vehicles through an automated system.
- ix.       Published  rules  regarding  the  Bharat  New  Car  Assessment Program  (BNCAP)  to  introduce  the  concept  of  safety  rating  of passenger cars and empower consumers to take informed decisions.
- x.   Published  rules  regarding  prescribed  level  playing  field  in  the Equipment
- area of manufacturing of buses by Original Manufacturers (OEMs) and Bus Body Builders.
- xi.  Mandated vehicles, manufactured on or after 1st October, 2025, shall  be  fitted  with  an  air-conditioning  system  for  the  cabin  of vehicles of N2 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 3.5  tonnes  but  not  exceeding  12.0  tonnes)  and  N3  (goods  vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 12.0 tonnes) category.
- xii.      Published  rules  for  revision  of  standards  for  Safety  Belt, Restraint  Systems  and  Safety  Belt  Reminder  to  provide  provisions for  applicability  of  revised  standards  for  safety  belt  assemblies, safety  belt  anchorages  and  the  installation  of  Safety  Belts  and Restraint Systems, in Motor vehicles of category M,N and L7 w.e.f. 01st April, 2025. Further, the vehicles of category M1, manufactured on and after the 1st April 2025, shall meet the requirement of safety belt reminder for all front facing rear seats as per AIS-145-2018.
- xiii.        Published  rules  for  Active  safety  features  in  Medium  and Heavy  Duty  vehicles,  which  provide  for  Braking  System  including Anti-lock Braking, Endurance Braking System for M2, M3, N1, N2, N3 and Quadricycle (effective for new models from 1st January, 2027 and  for  existing  models  from  1st  October,  2027),  and  Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) including Vehicle Stability Function  (VSF),  Lane  Departure  Warning  System  (LDWS),  Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning Systems, Blind Spot Information Systems and Moving off Information Systems for M2, M3, N2 and N3 categories of vehicles (effective for new models from 1st October, 2027 and for existing models from 1st January, 2028).
- (3)        Enforcement:
- i.            The  Motor  Vehicles  (Amendment)  Act,  2019  as  stands implemented  provides  for  strict  penalties  for  ensuring  compliance and  enhancing  deterrence  for  violation  of  traffic  rules  and  strict enforcement  through  use  of  technology.  Traffic  management and enforcement is essentially in the domain of State Governments/UT Administrations.  While  Central  Government  formulates  rules  under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, the enforcement of these rules comes under the purview of State Governments/UT Administrations.
- ii.             Issued  rules  for  Electronic  Monitoring  and  Enforcement  of Road Safety. The rules specify the detailed provisions for placement of  electronic  enforcement  devices  on  high  risk  &  high  density corridors on National Highways, State Highways and critical junctions cities having a population of more than one million in the country and cities under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
- iii.       Government has issued guidelines for incentive to States for Implementation of Electronic Enforcement of Road Safety under the Scheme  for  Special  Assistance  to  States  for  Capital  Investment 2025-26 (SASCI 2025-26) with allocation of Rs. 3,000 Crore (on first come first serve basis).
- iv.     On 10th June, 2024, the Government has issued an advisory to all  the  States  and  Union  territories  on  technological  interventions for ensuring compliance with Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.

## (4)        Emergency care:

- i.          Revised the scheme guidelines (named as Rah-Veer) for the protection  of  Good  Samaritan,  who  in  good  faith,  voluntarily  and without expectation of any reward or compensation renders emergency medical or non-medical care or assistance at the scene of  an  accident  to  the  victim  or  transports  such  victim  to  the hospital.  As  per  the  scheme,  the  reward  for  Rah-Veer  has  been increased to Rs. 25,000/- from Rs. 5,000/-.
- ii.           Enhanced  compensation  of  victims  of  Hit  and  Run  motor accidents (from Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 50,000 for grievous hurt and from Rs. 25,000 to Rs.2,00,000 for death).
- iii. The National Highways Authority of India has  made provisions for ambulances with paramedical staff/Emergency Medical Technician/Nurse at toll plazas on the completed corridors of National Highways.
- iv.        Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified the Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme,

2025  on  5th  May,  2025.  The  detailed  guidelines  including  process flow,  stakeholder  wise  standard  operating  procedures  and  clearly delineated roles and responsibilities have also been notified on 4th June, 2025. A decision on formation of a Road Safety Force would fall within the jurisdiction  of  the  State/UT  Governments.   There  is  no  proposal under consideration for formation of a Central Road Safety Force.

*****