Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has issued a fresh warning over India's road safety crisis, stating that the country loses about 20 people every hour in road accidents. Gadkari made the remarks at a road safety event in New Delhi on Monday, NDTV reported.
Gadkari stated that India records nearly five lakh road accidents ever year, resulting in around 1.8 lakh deaths, and stressed that the scale of fatalities is comparable to a national crisis. He said no war or disease claims as many lives annually as road accidents in India, the report said.
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According to the figures cited by Gadkari, around 66% of people killed in road accidents are young, highlighting the disproportionate impact of crashes on India's working age population. The minister described the loss of young lives as something the country cannot afford.
Gadkari also stated that 54,132 people died last year because they were not wearing helmets. Two wheeler users account for about 45% of all road fatalities, according to ANI's report cited by NDTV.
More recent government figures cited by The Economic Times put the two wheeler share of total fatalities in 2025 at 46.2%, followed by pedestrians at 20.6% and occupants of cars, taxis, vans, and other light motor vehicles at 12.4%.
Gadkari identified poorly designed and accident-prone stretches, commonly known as black spots, as a major contributor to road deaths. He said that the government is spending around Rs 40,000 crore to address and eliminate such dangerous locations.
The minister also stated that the government has identified 100 districts with high concentration of road accidents and is implementing targeted measures in these areas to reduce crashes and fatalities.
Gadkari has repeatedly stressed that road safety depends not only on infrastructure but also on responsible behaviour by motorists. In a March 2026 road safety programme, he urged people, particularly young drivers, to follow traffic rules and control their speed.
Government data has previously identified over-speeding, mobile phone use while driving, drunken driving, wrong side driving, jumping red lights and failure to use helmets and seat belts among the causes associated with road accidents.
Gadkari stated that road accidents also impose a major economic burden, with crashes costing the Indian economy roughly 3% of the GDP.
The minister also highlighted road safety education as an important part of the government's approach, with the ministry focusing on students in classes 10 to 12 to encourage safer road behaviour from an early age.
Gadkari pointed to India's massive expansion of road infrastructure, stating that the country has overtaken Japan to become the world's third largest road network, behind the United States and China. At the same time he highlighted the contradiction between this infrastructural growth and India's number of road accidents, NDTV reported.
He cited Sweden as an example of a country that has achieved very low road fatality levels through disciplined traffic behaviour, enforcement and road design, and stated that India needs to adopt similar approaches.
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