Imagine this: while you sip your morning chai, read three pages of a book, or scroll through social media for just three minutes, somewhere in India, a family loses a loved one to a road crash. One death. Every three minutes. 480 deaths every single day.

This isn’t a distant tragedy happening somewhere else. It’s unfolding on the roads you travel, in cities you know, affecting families that could be yours.

Now, a coalition of road safety experts and civil society organisations is saying enough is enough. On November 13, 2025, the Road Safety Network (RSN) launched a comprehensive whitepaper calling for urgent, system-wide reforms with an ambitious target: cut India’s road fatalities by 50% by 2030.

But can India actually pull this off? And what needs to change for our roads to stop being death traps?

The Shocking Reality: India’s Roads Are Among the World’s Deadliest in Terms of Road Safety

The numbers are staggering and sobering. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), India recorded 4,80,583 road crashes and 1,72,890 deaths in 2023 alone.

Let that sink in: nearly 173,000 lives lost in a single year. That’s equivalent to wiping out a city the size of Dehradun or Nashik annually.

Here’s what makes it even more alarming: India accounts for nearly 11% of global road fatalities despite owning just 1% of the world’s vehicles. Our roads are disproportionately deadly compared to almost anywhere else on the planet.

Who Bears the Brunt of Road Safety?

The tragedy doesn’t strike everyone equally. Vulnerable road users—pedestrians, cyclists, and two-wheeler riders—account for nearly 68% of all road deaths, according to the RSN whitepaper. These are daily wage workers commuting to construction sites, students riding to college, vegetable vendors pushing carts, and elderly people crossing streets.

The economic toll is equally devastating. Road crashes drain an estimated 3-5% of India’s GDP annually, with the greatest impact falling on low-income families who can least afford the medical bills, lost wages, and funeral costs that follow.

The Virtual Dialogue: Experts Call for System-Wide Change

On November 13, ahead of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (November 16), the Road Safety Network convened a virtual dialogue titled “Exploring Systemic Gaps and Policy Solutions.”

The session brought together leading voices in transportation planning, road engineering, and policy:

Prof. (Dr.) Bhargab Maitra from IIT Kharagpur, who moderated the discussion, emphasised the need to recognise India’s unique ground realities. “The larger reality of Indian roads, traffic, road users, availability of land and land uses must be recognised to bring changes in road design to make roads safer for all users,” he stated. His prescription: adopt the Safe System Approach and prioritise speed management as a critical intervention Road Safety Network.

Prof. (Dr.) Sikdar, Advisor to the Indian Roads Congress (IRC), highlighted the need for unwavering commitment: “Safety of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) will need a high level of passion and commitment from Policy Makers, Planners and Engineers to develop and protect the facilities built for VRUs as part of the road network from undue encroachments and misuse.”

His point touches on a reality familiar to anyone walking in Indian cities: footpaths occupied by parked vehicles, cycle tracks converted to street vendor zones, pedestrian crossings ignored by speeding traffic.

Mr. Ravishankar, Road Safety Expert from CUMTA (Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority), offered specific actionable priorities: “CUMTA recommends three immediate priorities—improving the quality of police accident data and reporting for better cause analysis; ensuring stricter compliance with helmet use under the Motor Vehicles Act through education and enforcement; and holding road-owning agencies accountable for adhering to safety engineering standards.”

The consensus was clear: India’s road safety crisis is predictable and preventable, rooted in weak enforcement, unsafe road design, and a lack of coordinated governance.

The RSN Whitepaper: A Roadmap to Halve Road Deaths

The centrepiece of the dialogue was the launch of RSN’s solution-focused whitepaper: “Solving India’s Road Safety Crisis with Data-Backed, Scientific, and Evidence-Based Solutions.”

The document doesn’t just diagnose problems; it prescribes specific, actionable interventions. Here are the five urgent priorities outlined:

1. Launch a National Road Safety Mission (NRSM)

Currently, road safety falls between multiple ministries—transport, health, police, and urban development—with no single body coordinating action. The proposed NRSM would provide unified leadership, ensuring sustained implementation of safety measures across states and ministries.

Think of it as India’s version of the Swachh Bharat Mission or Digital India—a flagship program with clear targets, accountability mechanisms, and high-level political backing.

2. Adopt Scientific Speed Management Norms

Speed kills. It’s that simple. Yet India’s speed limits are often arbitrary, not aligned with road design, surrounding land use, or pedestrian safety needs.

The whitepaper calls for speed limits based on scientific parameters—matching road function (residential vs. highway), design (width, sight lines), and human vulnerability. For example, urban streets with heavy pedestrian traffic should have 30-40 km/h limits, strictly enforced.

3. Implement Legally Binding State Action Plans

Currently, state road safety plans are often aspirational documents with little enforcement. The RSN recommends making these legally binding, with clear performance metrics, regular audits, and accountability for non-compliance.

If states miss their fatality reduction targets, there should be consequences—whether financial penalties, mandated corrective action, or public reporting mechanisms.

4. Protect Vulnerable Road Users

With pedestrians, cyclists, and two-wheeler riders accounting for 68% of deaths, protecting them must be the top priority.

The whitepaper recommends: safer street design with dedicated pedestrian crossings, protected cycle lanes, and traffic calming measures; improved street lighting in accident-prone areas; and stricter enforcement of helmet and seatbelt laws.

Consider this: helmet use reduces the risk of death by 42% and head injury by 69%, according to WHO data. Yet helmet compliance remains patchy, especially in smaller towns and rural areas.

5. Modernise Crash Data Systems

You can’t fix what you can’t measure. India’s current accident data reporting is fragmented, delayed, and often incomplete. The whitepaper calls for real-time crash data platforms like e-DAR (Electronic Detailed Accident Report), enabling evidence-based planning and transparent monitoring.

Good data allows planners to identify blackspots (high-crash locations), understand contributing factors (speeding, drunk driving, poor road design), and evaluate intervention effectiveness.

The Safe System Approach: A Fundamental Shift

Multiple experts at the dialogue emphasised adopting the Safe System Approach—a philosophy that has proven successful in countries like Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia.

Traditional road safety thinking places responsibility primarily on road users: “Don’t speed. Wear your helmet. Drive carefully.” The Safe System Approach flips this paradigm. It recognises that humans make mistakes, and the system should be designed to prevent those mistakes from being fatal.

This means:

Forgiving Road Design – Wide shoulders, breakaway signposts, median barriers that prevent head-on collisions
Speed Management – Matching speeds to human tolerance for impact (30 km/h in pedestrian areas)
Vehicle Safety Standards – Mandating airbags, ABS, and electronic stability control
Post-Crash Care – Efficient emergency response and trauma care to reduce fatality rates

The Safe System Approach has delivered dramatic results elsewhere. Sweden, which pioneered “Vision Zero” in 1997, has reduced road deaths by over 50% while traffic volumes increased. If Sweden can do it, why can’t India?

World Day of Remembrance: Honouring Victims, Demanding Action

The timing of RSN’s whitepaper launch is deliberate. November 16 marks the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, observed globally to honour those killed or seriously injured on roads and support their families.

But remembrance without action is hollow. As Dr Ashwini Bagga from the Department of Transport and Road Safety, Government of Rajasthan, and other participants emphasised, the day should also be a call to make road safety a national development priority.

Road safety isn’t just a transport issue—it’s a public health crisis, an economic burden, and a social justice issue. The families most devastated by road crashes are often those with the least capacity to recover financially and emotionally.

Can India Actually Achieve 50% Reduction by 2030?

The RSN’s target—cutting road fatalities by half within five years—is ambitious but not unprecedented. Several countries have achieved similar or greater reductions through sustained, coordinated efforts.

What’s needed for India to succeed:

Political Will – Road safety must become a priority at the highest levels of government, with accountability mechanisms
Adequate Funding – Infrastructure improvements, enforcement capacity, and data systems require substantial investment
Behavioural Change – Public awareness campaigns, stricter enforcement, and social pressure to change risky behaviours
Multi-Sectoral Coordination – Transport, health, police, education, and urban planning agencies must work in sync
Community Engagement – Local communities, resident welfare associations, and civil society must be active partners

The good news: many states have shown improvement through targeted interventions. Tamil Nadu’s rigorous helmet enforcement, Delhi’s pedestrian safety infrastructure, and Kerala’s trauma care network demonstrate that progress is possible.

The bad news: these remain isolated successes. Scaling them nationally requires the kind of coordinated mission that RSN is advocating for.

What Can You Do?

Road safety can feel like an abstract issue—until it affects someone you know. But individual actions matter:

1. Drive/Ride Responsibly – Follow speed limits, wear helmets/seatbelts, never drink and drive
2. Demand Better Infrastructure – Report dangerous intersections, broken streetlights, and missing crossings to the authorities
3. Support Policy Change – Contact your local representatives to prioritise road safety
4. Spread Awareness – Share information about safe practices with family and friends
5. Support Organisations – Groups like RSN, SaveLIFE Foundation, and Parisar need public backing for their advocacy

On November 16, as we observe the World Day of Remembrance, take a moment to think about the 480 families that will receive devastating news that day. And ask yourself: what kind of roads do we want for India’s future?

The RSN whitepaper offers a clear roadmap. The expertise exists. The solutions are proven. What’s needed now is the collective will to make it happen.

Because every three minutes is three minutes too soon.

The full Road Safety Network whitepaper is available at roadsafetynetwork.in. For more stories on urban safety, transportation policy, and sustainable mobility, follow Urban Voices.