India recorded over 1.8 lakh road crash fatalities in 2024.
Policymakers, enforcement agencies, researchers and civil society leaders gathered on Thursday at IIT Research Park in Kolkata to discuss urgent actions needed to help the country achieve its goal of halving road fatalities and serious injuries by 2030.
Speeding is India’s leading road safety risk, contributing to 70.7 per cent of road crashes and 70.3 per cent of fatalities.
Although National Highways make up just 2.1 per cent of the road network, they account for 36.6 per cent of road deaths, with nearly three-fourths of highway crashes and fatalities linked to speeding.
Researchers from the IIT Kharagpur examined whether speed management interventions could reduce crash severity and the risk of fatalities on NH-16 in West Bengal.
Papia Ghosh Roy Choudhury, special secretary, Department of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, gave an elaborate research analysis and the key points on which the new government is working.
“Not only will we design the speed management policy both in perspective of rural areas and urban areas, but we are actually now in the midst of enforcing the urban speed limit.”
“From school zones running at 25 kmph, to peak footfall zones at 30 kmph, we are determining the safest way to maintain traffic and road safety,” added Choudhury.
A key focus of the discussions was speeding, which continues to be the leading contributor to crashes in India.
According to the latest Ministry of Road Transport and Highway Road Accidents 2024 report, over-speeding accounted for 62 per cent of all road accidents and resulted in more than one lakh fatalities nationwide.
The data also highlighted the disproportionate impact on vulnerable road users, with pedestrians accounting for 36,526 fatalities and 20.6 per cent of all road crash deaths, making them the second most affected category after two-wheeler riders, who accounted for 46.2 per cent of fatalities across the country.
Mohammed Asheel, national professional officer at the World Health Organization, says road safety is not just a civic issue; it has become a public health issue.
“More people die every year from road accidents and road-related dangers than from contagious diseases like malaria, HIV and typhoid combined. This data is so staggering, it has definitely become a public health issue,” said Asheel.
Asheel reiterated the importance of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, which overhauled India’s road safety framework. It amended the original 1988 Act to introduce steeper penalties for traffic violations, improve licensing processes, protect ‘Good Samaritans’, mandate vehicle recalls, and establish the National Road Safety Board.
The key findings at IIT Kharagpur mentioned that speed limits should be determined by the prevailing road function, rather than solely by design or administrative classification.
Bhargab Maitra, professor, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Kharagpur, and Member of Road Safety Network, moderated the session. He said, “West Bengal has taken an important step by adopting a scientific speed management framework.”
“The focus now must be on implementation—translating policy into safer corridors, safer speeds and measurable reductions in fatalities. Kolkata's recent progress demonstrates that evidence-based interventions can save lives, and the next challenge is to replicate and scale these learnings across other urban centres and districts of West Bengal,” added Maitra.