Without Helmets, 4 Die Every Hour In Mishaps

Callousness of two wheeler users leads to casualties, reveals analysis of accident data

- Nikhil Rampal

Steeper fines under the amended Motor Vehicles Act have been met with much opposition from the general public. With many states opposing the revised penalties, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari reiterated that heavier fines were introduced to reduce road deaths and not for revenue generation.

Analysing statistics provided by the ministry, India Today Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) has found that of all the road accidents that took place in 2017, two-wheelers were the worst hit.

In 2017, more than 48,746 twowheeler users died in road mishaps. Incidentally, 73.8 per cent of them did not wear a helmet. This means that every hour, four two-wheeler users who died in a road accident did not wear a helmet.

The number of two-wheeler users who died in road accidents was 48,746, which was 33 per cent of the total deaths in road accidents. Two-wheeler users were followed by car/jeep/taxi users whose death toll was 26,869.