Mumbai recorded 2533 road accidents in 2023, a 33.7 per cent increase from 1895 in 2022, resulting in 384 fatalities and over 3000 injuries, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ (MoRTH) ‘Road Accidents in India 2023’ report released a few weeks ago. Mumbai ranked 12th for accidents among cities with a population of over a million, and 14th for fatalities, while Maharashtra ranked sixth among states for total accidents and third as far as fatalities were concerned. A notable trend, as per the report, has been that all accidents occurred on straight roads, with Y-junctions prominent.
While speeding caused 2479 accidents, leading to 373 deaths and 3242 injuries, drunken driving accounted for 54 accidents and 11 fatalities. Pedestrians were involved in 1104 accidents, with 171 deaths, and two-wheelers accounted for 160 accidents, with 23 deaths. Bicycles were involved in 166 accidents, causing 9 deaths and 199 injuries, the report added.
Nationally, India saw 480,583 accidents and 172,890 fatalities in 2023. REPRESENTATION PIC/ISTOCK
As for state figures, Maharashtra reported 35,243 accidents, an increase of 5.5 per cent from 33,383 in 2022, with 15,366 fatalities, ranking third nationally. Vehicles that were under 10 years old were involved in 57.8 per cent of state accidents. Peak accident hours were 3 pm to 6 pm, with 7244 state-wide incidents, explains the report with various parameters. The report adds that not using a helmet caused 3920 two-wheeler deaths state-wide, and seat-belt non-compliance led to 725 car occupant deaths.
Nationally, India saw 480,583 accidents and 172,890 fatalities, with Maharashtra contributing to 7.3 per cent of accidents and 8.9 per cent of deaths. On Maharashtra’s roads, national highways accounted for 11,742 accidents and 5230 deaths. State highways recorded 8495 accidents and 3648 deaths. Other roads saw 15,006 accidents and 6488 deaths.
Voices
Jitendra Gupta, Citizen Transport Committee
‘Three factors are missing in this report, which must be contributing equally towards accidents. The first is pedestrians disobeying road safety rules; the second is users of battery-powered two-wheelers, which do not require number plates, and cyclists flouting rules. The third is a malfunction of the signalling system. The timing of the signalling system turning to orange from green and finally to red plays a big role in controlling accidents. It has to be set differently for a two-lane, four-lane and six-lane roads, as the permitted speed on roads differs according to the number of lanes. I discovered such deliberate mischief in nexus with the technical team managing the signal at Vashi along the Vashi-Pune Highway. Here, the amber colour glass of the signal was painted black so drivers of vehicles travelling a high speed couldn’t see when the colour changed and then be caught after they crossed the signal that suddenly turned red. A police team used to wait throughout the day to cash in on this. I personally paid the fine and then returned to the spot the same day to make a video recording. After exposing this, within 24 hours, the signal was restored to its original state.
GR Vora, commuter rights activist
‘Since there is no increase in roads in Mumbai, a ceiling has to be set to restrict the number of vehicles on our roads. Restrictions on vehicle registrations per month (mostly for two wheelers, small domestic four wheelers and least for heavy vehicles such as lorries, etc) need to be imposed, especially in Mumbai jurisdiction. Drink and drive offenders need to be strictly penalised… with about a Rs 1 lakh and one year jail term. When accidents are caused due to drunk driving, fines imposed should be at least Rs 5 lakh, with imprisonment of at least two years. If there is death due to drunk driving, then the fine should be at least Rs 10 lakh and imprisonment for five years. Signal jumping and other traffic violations also need to be punished more stringently. At present, we find the two-wheelers, especially the courier boys, blatantly jumping signals, riding on footpaths etc. This is a cause for accidents and stress for pedestrians and those crossing roads. More traffic police personnel need to be present on roads. Currently, there are hardly any present to deter traffic law violations.’
Sushil Pathare, city road safety coordinator at Parisar NGO
‘The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) released the ‘Road Crash Report 2023’ in August, highlighting that India recorded 480,583 road crashes in 2023. These incidents claimed 172,890 lives and left 462,825 people injured, marking a 4.2 per cent increase in accidents, 2.6 per cent rise in fatalities, and 4.4 per cent increase in injuries compared to 2022. Against this national backdrop, Maharashtra emerges as a high-burden state. The state recorded 35,243 road crashes, ranking 6th in India, and 15,366 fatalities, ranking 3rd in the country. Injuries in Maharashtra totalled 29,764, placing the state 6th in India. On average, 97 crashes occurred every day in the state, resulting in 42 deaths and 82 injuries, equating to nearly two fatalities per hour. Speeding, non-use of helmets and seat belts, and risky driving behaviour remain major contributors. These insights underscore the urgent need for safe infrastructure Intervention, targeted enforcement, and public awareness campaigns to reduce the state’s road crash burden.’
