Fatalities on National Highways decline for first time since pandemic, Govt tells Parliament

Fatalities in accidents on national highways declined for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2025, with deaths falling by 4 per cent to 62,122, even as the overall number of road accidents across the country increased, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday, August 5.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said accident-related deaths on national highways stood at 64,772 in 2024 and 63,112 in 2023, before declining in 2025.

However, Gadkari said the total number of road accidents in the country rose by 5.30 per cent to 5,13,563 in 2025, claiming 1,83,382 lives, equivalent to around 21 deaths every hour. The figures are based on data reported by police departments of states and Union Territories.

Among the states, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of road accidents at 71,387, while Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of accident-related fatalities at 27,550 during the year.

Responding to another question, Gadkari said certain stretches on national highways have been identified as black spots—locations with a high incidence of fatal and grievous road accidents.

He said these black spots are being identified in real time using artificial intelligence-based tools developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.

Based on accident data from the Electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) covering the 2023–2025 period, 6,358 black spot corridors have been identified.

In response to a separate question, the minister informed the House that 1,191 national highway projects, covering 25,917 kilometres and costing Rs 7.15 lakh crore, are currently under construction across the country.

Gadkari also said the government is expanding the deployment of Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) to improve road safety and reduce accidents on national highways.

According to the minister, the system includes electronic enforcement devices that enable quicker detection of road incidents and traffic violations, helping authorities improve monitoring, incident response time and overall highway safety.

He added that the government has approved the implementation of ATMS on 531 km of national highways, while the approval process has been initiated for deployment across another 6,000 km.