The number of people killed in road accidents increased by 5% in 2015 from the previous year, said a report released by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on Thursday. The total number of fatalities last year stood at 1.46 lakh. There were a total of 5.01 lakh accidents, and 400 people were killed every day, the report added. Most of the accidents were attributed to driver error, with speeding being the leading cause.
According to the report, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of accidents. Among the cities, the most accidents took place in Mumbai, while the most deaths took place in Delhi. More than half the people killed were in the 15-34 age group.
While releasing the report, Gadkari did not try to downplay the difficult numbers, saying, “Let people criticise us, but I want to make the report public. Our two years of dedicated work and sincere efforts have resulted in not much change but we are committed to changing the scenario as I cannot allow this.” He added that the Road Transport Ministry has proposed a board that will advise the government on road safety standards and guidelines.
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