NEW DELHI: Forty per cent of the victims of fatal road mishaps in the country are those under the age of 24, a study released here said.
The young population (till 24 years), constitutes 40 percent of the victims, other than motor vehicle drivers, according to a report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
An national assessment of road accident risk also says that as many as 53 percent of the victims in the bracket of 25-65 years fall prey to road accidents.
In 2012, about 5,879 children in the age group 0-14 years and about 26,709 young adults in the age group 15-24 years were victims of road accidents, the report said.
Revealing another explosive trend, the report says that as much as 11 percent of the global road injury deaths occur annually in India alone. These numbers are so high that it amounts to wiping out almost half the equivalent population of a nation like Iceland.
Over the last two decades, while the total number of accidents and injuries shows only a small downward dip, fatalities have increased sharply.
The proportion of fatal accidents in total road accidents is up from 18 per cent in 2003 to 25 percent in 2012 (as per official data). More people are dying now as cities allow vehicles to have more speed on roads, while depriving people of safe access to these same roads, the report said.
The trauma centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, which can handle only 15,000 cases, reports almost 60,000 cases of accidents every year, with a 10 percent annual increase.
Approximately 5,000 cases require major operations, the report said.
"Of the total cases reported for injuries, head injuries account for 40 percent while orthopedic and torso injuries are 30 percent. In cases of brain injuries, there is only 40 percent chance of recovery," the report said.
According to a CSE official who was related to the assessment, highly motorised cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, and Bengaluru top the list with the highest numbers of injuries and deaths as recorded by the Union ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Mumbai has the highest number of all types of accidents, while Delhi records largest number of fatal accidents among all cities.
Studies also indicate that smaller cities like Lucknow, Vadodra, and Agra that have newly built highways, show increasing vehicle conflict and accident risks.
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