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Road Safety - Phase II

Since 2015, CAG has been working with partner organisations across India and government agencies, to strengthen road safety legislation in the country. At the state-level, in Tamil Nadu, CAG has been collaborating with the transport and police departments, other civil society groups, and consumer rights groups to bolster implementation and enforcement of the law and greater public awareness on road safety, Good Samaritan Guidelines, and the need for citizens to adhere to the rules of the road. CAG has brought out several IEC materials in English and Tamil on road safety.

There is one fatality every 4 minutes on Indian roads. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that though India has only one per cent of the world’s roads, the country accounts for 10 per cent of road accident fatalities. Reversing this worsening trend requires a concerted effort on various fronts – changing user behaviour; stronger legislation that covers aspects of vehicle safety, etc; better enforcement of legislation; proper road design and improved data collection regarding traffic.

For several years, Tamil Nadu has been faring poorly in road safety, leading other states in fatalities and road crashes or coming close to. However, the data on this is not readily available to the public. The only sources of information are the yearly reports by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). These, of course, give only a broad state-level view.

So, in 2017, CAG filed RTI (Right to Information) petitions to get district-wise data on crashes, deaths, injuries by road user group for the years 2011 to 2016; information on road safety funds and their usage; and on enforcement of road rules with regards to wearing helmets and seatbelts, drunk driving, and speeding. CAG received partial information from 23 districts, while 9 districts did not respond at all. The data received has been analysed and distilled into infographics in this map.


KanyakumariTirunelveliThuthukudiRamanathapuramSivagangaiVirudhunagarTheniMaduraiDindugulPudukottaiTiruppurCoimbatoreNilgrisErodeKarurTiruchirappalliThanjavurThiruvarurNagapattinamAriyalurPerambalurNamakkalCuddaloreSalemVillupuramDharmapuriKrishnagiriTiruvannamalaiVelloreKanchipuramChennaiThiruvallur

Click on particular district for more information.