3.19 lakh road accidents in 2019 due to overspeeding: Govt

Around 71 per cent of 4.49 lakh road accidents in the country last year were due to overspeeding, Parliament was informed on Saturday.

"As per the available information, the total no of road accidents during last calendar Year 2019 are 4,49,002. Out of which 3,19,028 road accidents (71.1%) have been reported due to overspeeding," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways VK Singh told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has notified “Member of Parliaments’ Road Safety Committee” for each district to promote awareness among road users, he said.

The Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from the district will be the chairman of such committee, the minister said.

Singh added that the Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on education, engineering (both of roads and vehicles), enforcement and emergency care.

India accounts for about 5 lakh road accidents annually, one of the highest in the world, in which about 1.5 lakh people die and another 3 lakh become crippled.