India recorded 1,75,142 road crash deaths in 2024, the highest in a decade and nearly 18% more than in 2015. While the number of deaths has been increasing, the number of road crashes has remained relatively flat over the same period. This article looks at trends and numbers from the Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2024 report (ADSI).
While the COVID-19 related lockdowns led to a reduction in number of road crashes and fatalities, the numbers bounced back in 2022 and have been on an upward trajectory since.
One in Seven Road Deaths Now Kills a Pedestrian
An alarming shift in the data over the past decade is about who is dying. In 2015, pedestrian deaths accounted for roughly 5% of all road crash fatalities in India. In 2024 that share was 14.7%, almost a threefold increase. In absolute terms, pedestrian deaths rose from around 7,000 in 2015 to 25,769 in 2024.
While a note of caution can be warranted about the steep rise of pedestrian deaths, such as having to do with changes in how NCRB classifies and collects pedestrian fatality data, the underlying trend is real, that India’s streets are becoming more hostile to people on foot, while infrastructure becomes more suited to those who can afford a vehicle.
The Picture in Metro Cities
Delhi recorded more than 5500 road crashes in 2024, followed by Bengaluru at 4769. Hyderabad and Chennai came next at more than 3700 road crashes.
Delhi recorded 1,551 road crash deaths in 2024, by far the highest of any metro city, followed by Bengaluru at 894. Chennai and Ahmedabad follow. Mumbai and Pune, have 348 and 373 crashes reported, both cities also recorded almost identical numbers to their reported deaths (348 deaths in Mumbai, 381 in Pune). The numbers for Pune and Mumbai suggest an issue with record keeping that might get fixed by the time the Road Accidents in India report comes out for 2024.
Pedestrian Deaths: A Tale of Two Cities
Bengaluru recorded 246 pedestrian deaths in 2024, the highest of any metro. This is despite its road crash fatalities being much lower than Delhi’s. Delhi, by contrast, recorded just 77 pedestrian deaths, the lowest pedestrian toll among the larger cities.
The contrast between Bengaluru and Delhi on pedestrian deaths warrants further exploration. Delhi’s low pedestrian fatality count relative to its overall death toll may reflect the nature of its road network, wide arterial roads and expressways where high-speed collisions between vehicles dominate. In contrast to Bengaluru’s dense urban road grid that may expose pedestrians at more junctions and crossings. It could also reflect an issue with record keeping, but it needs more ground level investigation.
A Decade in Delhi and Bengaluru
Tracking both cities over the past ten years reveals more patterns. Delhi’s death toll has been on a gradual decline from its 2015–2018 peak. While Bengaluru shows a trend where total deaths seem to not have changed that much and holding steady at a benchmark near 900.
The pedestrian deaths chart for both cities is more volatile. Bengaluru shows dramatic swings – from 85 in 2015, crashing to 24 in 2017 and then a huge spike to 276 in 2018. Delhi’s pedestrian numbers are more stable but still show significant year-on-year variation.
These fluctuations likely reflect inconsistencies in how pedestrian deaths were classified and reported at the city level in different years. However the broad trend for Bengaluru (rising pedestrian deaths over the decade) is likely genuine.
Road crash deaths: The cause divide
The 2024 data on causes of road accident deaths reveals two fundamentally different road safety problems in India’s two deadliest cities.
In Bengaluru, over speeding dominates overwhelmingly, accounting for 87.2% of road accident deaths. The primary cause of deaths on Bengaluru’s roads is speed. Delhi differs. Here, dangerous driving accounts for 59.4% of deaths, with overspeeding still contributing a significant 39.1%.
This distinction matters for policy. A city where overspeeding drives nearly nine in ten road deaths calls for speed enforcement, better road design that physically slows vehicles, and infrastructure that protects pedestrians. A city where dangerous driving dominates suggests aggressive lane-changing, signal-jumping, driving under distraction. This requires different interventions: stricter licensing standards, targeted enforcement, and broader public awareness campaigns.
It’s worth noting that NCRB’s cause categories depend on how the attending police officer classifies each case at the scene. Classification practices differ across cities and states. This is a known limitation of the data and needs to be standardised across the country.
What the Numbers Can and Cannot Tell Us
India’s road accident data, published annually by the NCRB, has limitations, that we’ve highlighted through this article. This includes inconsistencies across states and cities, classification of causes, pedestrian involvement, etc.
None of this invalidates the trends visible here. India’s roads killed more people in 2024 than in any year before. Pedestrians are dying in growing numbers and are making up a larger share of the deaths. Delhi remains, by a significant margin, the metro city most deadly for road users overall. And Bengaluru’s roads are producing pedestrian and speed-related casualties at rates that should attract policy attention.