Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that while his department has taken great strides in making mobility easier and more comfortable for citizens, he "failed" to meet his target of reducing the number of deaths in road accidents by 50 percent.
"Unfortunately, I have not been able to meet my target of reducing traffic accidents in India by 50 percent," Gadkari said while speaking to CNN-News18 at the Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi.
Acknowledging the failure on his part, Gadkari noted that the country faces a daunting road safety challenge with 1.78 lakh fatalities annually and said that his department had identified "human behaviour" as the single-largest factor behind this menace.
Gadkari had earlier said that the government now plans to reduce road accidents by half by 2030 and noted that road accidents contribute to an economic loss of 3 percent to the GDP.
As per the latest nationwide data for 2022, India witnessed 4,80,000 road accidents, 1,80,000 deaths, and about 4,00,000 serious injuries. Of these, 1,40,000 accident deaths are in the age of 18-45 years and affecting mostly two-wheeler riders and pedestrians.
Gadkari, however, noted that new Bharat NCAP compliant vehicles have improved road safety standards in India.
"The government is also working on a scheme to provide free treatment to victims of road accidents," Gadkari said.
Noting the reasons for the high number of road accidents, Gadkari noted that around 30,000 people are killed in India every year due to not wearing helmets.
"We are now going to make it mandatory for two-wheeler sellers to include two helmets in the cost of the vehicle," Gadkari added.
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