New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday urged two-wheeler manufacturers to provide helmets to buyers at a discounted or reasonable price, emphasizing that many road accident fatalities occur due to the lack of helmet use. In 2022 alone, over 50,000 lives were lost in accidents due to this reason. Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in India.
Speaking at an event in Delhi, Gadkari highlighted that 50,029 people lost their lives in 2022 because they were not wearing helmets during accidents.
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Tuesday 28 Jan. 2025
“I am thinking of requesting two-wheeler manufacturers… If they can give some reasonable discount on helmets to the purchaser of the vehicle then we can save the life of the people,” he said. The Road Transport and Highways Minister also stressed on the need to plan the parking arrangement for school buses.
Noting that the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 has enforced hefty penalties on traffic offenses, he said, “But actually, effective enforcement is also a big challenge.” Gadkari said his ambition is to start driving school in every taluka of the country.
According to a new report titled “National Strategy for Prevention of Unintentional Injury”, compiled by the Ministry of Health, road crashes cause the most deaths due to unintentional injuries in India, accounting for more than 43 percent of such fatalities, with overspeeding being the leading reason.
“There were 4,30,504 deaths from unintentional injuries and 1,70,924 deaths due to intentional injuries in India in 2022. From 2016 to 2022, there has been a marginal increase in deaths due to unintentional and intentional injuries. Road traffic crashes are the highest cause of unintentional injuries (43.7 percent),” the report had said.
Helmets provide essential protection to the heads of two-wheeler users, reducing the risk of fatal injuries in accidents. Wearing helmets is legally required to ensure safety as they significantly lower the chances of death in road accidents.
Gadkari has been consistently vocal about the increasing number of road accidents in India. Earlier this year, he attributed the surge in traffic mishaps to a decline in the quality of engineering graduates and their inadequate project planning. He highlighted that there had been a 12% rise in road accidents and a 10% rise in fatalities from these incidents, leading to a socio-economic loss of 3.14% to India’s GDP.
