Tamil Nadu tops India’s road accident chart for fourth straight year

Chennai: Tamil Nadu remained at the top of the national road accident chart in 2025, reporting more than 71,000 crashes. However, the state recorded a considerably lower proportion of fatalities compared with several other major vehicle-owning states, according to figures presented in Parliament.

Data provided in the Lok Sabha showed that 71,387 road accidents occurred across Tamil Nadu in 2025, claiming 18,505 lives. The figures were disclosed by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in response to a question from Kerala MP Benny Behanan.

The state recorded about 26 deaths for every 100 accidents. The latest numbers also point to a continuing rise in accidents across Tamil Nadu. From 64,105 crashes in 2022, the total increased by more than 7,000 over three years to reach 71,387 in 2025, reinforcing concerns over road safety despite various enforcement and prevention measures.

Gradual increase in deaths

Deaths from road accidents have followed a similar upward trajectory, although the increase has been more gradual.

Tamil Nadu recorded 17,884 fatalities in 2022, followed by 18,347 in 2023 and 18,449 in 2024. The toll rose further to 18,505 in 2025.

Tamil Nadu’s large and rapidly expanding number of vehicles is considered an important factor behind the high number of accidents. As of April 1, 2025, the state had 37.6 million registered vehicles, the third-highest in the country after Uttar Pradesh, with 50.5 million vehicles, and Maharashtra, with 39.5 million.

Despite having fewer accidents than Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra recorded substantially higher fatality-to-accident ratios of 55.47 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively.

Measures to reduce accidents

The Centre has introduced a series of measures aimed at reducing road accidents and fatalities. These include mandatory speed-limiting devices for transport vehicles, with exemptions for categories such as two-wheelers, three-wheelers, quadricycles, fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles.

Road safety specialists say Tamil Nadu’s comparatively lower fatality ratio could partly be attributed to faster emergency response and better access to medical facilities. However, speeding continues to be a major challenge, particularly on highways.

Experts have called for stricter speed controls, pointing out that modern vehicles are capable of travelling considerably faster than highway design speeds.

The road safety experts have also stressed the need to tackle driver fatigue alongside speeding and drunken driving. Measures such as random technology-assisted fatigue screening, stronger speed enforcement and tighter monitoring of highway traffic could help bring down Tamil Nadu’s persistently high accident numbers and prevent crashes from causing further loss of life.