Fatal road accidents in Bengaluru reach 16-year high in 2023: Report

North Bengaluru houses three of the top five high-risk corridors or blackspots in the city

Bengaluru: Three of Bengaluru’s top five road crash blackspots and high-risk corridors are in the northern part of the city, which falls under the Bengaluru Traffic Police's (BTP) north division.

This division also accounted for over one-third of all road fatalities in 2023.

These findings were part of the BTP 2023 Road Safety Report, released during the symposium 'Strengthening Road Safety in Karnataka', organised by Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) and National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences at the Nimhans Convention Centre on Thursday.

The report, a joint collaboration with Vital Strategies under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), is also available on the BTP website.

Key findings

Pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists accounted for 91% of Bengaluru’s 921 road fatalities in 2023. 

Fatal crashes reached a 16-year high, with 894 crashes resulting in 921 deaths — the highest since 2007.

The police identified 43 blackspots and 24 high-risk corridors, which accounted for most road deaths.

Call for safety improvements

Despite the figures being over a year old, the report’s key recommendations remain relevant.

The focus areas include enhancing road engineering and infrastructure to improve pedestrian and motorcyclist safety, and stronger enforcement of road safety behaviours such as wearing helmets correctly, using seatbelts, maintaining speed limits, and avoiding drunk driving.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MN Anucheth stated that the police are working closely with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to improve corridor-level safety, particularly for two-wheelers.

Points to ponder

Over 90% of fatalities were in the working-age group (20-60 years).

28% of victims were aged 20-29.

31% of vehicles exceeded speed limits.

In areas outside Bengaluru city, only 11% of motorcyclists wore helmets correctly.

73% of drivers surveyed admitted feeling comfortable exceeding speed limits, while 58% felt safe doing so.

Only 21% of drivers knew the city’s official speed limits.

Top five blackspots in Bengaluru (2023)

Veerasandra bus stop (14 fatalities)

Byatarayanapura Junction (11)

Summanahalli Junction (11)

Sadahalli Gate (10)

Yelahanka Air Force Station bus stop (8)