Indian roads are increasingly becoming more dangerous for its most vulnerable users, an IndiaSpend analysis of national data shows. In a decade to 2023, road accident deaths increased 24% to about 173,000, but pedestrian deaths nearly tripled, those of two-wheeler riders nearly doubled, and cyclist deaths rose 13%.

In particular, two-wheeler deaths rose from accounting for 30% of all deaths in 2014 to 45% by 2023. Overall, every hour in 2014, India saw about five deaths of two-wheeler riders on average. This rose to about nine deaths per hour by 2023, the latest year for which data are available from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

In contrast, every other category of road users – cars and jeeps, trucks, buses and autorickshaws – saw fewer deaths in 2023 when compared to 2014.

This decrease signifies some improvement overall, considering that the number of highways and vehicles keeps increasing, said Ranjit Gadgil, Program Director at Parisar. “But this puts a sharper focus on vulnerable road users like pedestrians and motorcyclists,” he explained.

Gadgil pointed to three factors for the increase in two-wheeler fatalities: First, the sheer number of people relying on two-wheelers. In 2022, the latest year for which data are available, two-wheelers accounted for 74% of vehicles registered across...

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