A road accident is any accident involving at least a vehicle, occurring on a road open to public transport, in which at least one person is injured or killed. Intentional acts (murder, suicide) and natural disasters are excluded. With over 1,30,000 deaths annually, India has the worst road accident rate worldwide.
1. Road Accidents – The Scale of the Problem
| Fact | Figure |
|---|---|
| Road accidents as a cause of death | The leading cause of death by injury and the tenth-leading cause of all deaths globally |
| People killed in road crashes each year (world) | An estimated 1.2 million |
| People injured each year (world) | As many as 50 million |
| Deaths annually in India | Over 1,30,000 |
| Children | Every three minutes a child is killed in an accident in the world |