SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 32,237 road accidents over the past five years and the current year up to July 27, 2026, claiming 4,890 lives and leaving 48,002 people injured, according to data tabled in the Lok Sabha by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The data also reveals that 1,237 pedestrians were killed while 7,091 others were injured in road accidents during the same period.
According to the Ministry’s reply to an unstarred question, J&K reported 5,452 road accidents in 2021, 6,092 in 2022, 6,298 in 2023, 5,808 in 2024, 5,318 in 2025, and 3,269 accidents up to July 27, 2026. The corresponding fatalities stood at 774, 805, 893, 831, 984, and 603, while the number of injured persons was 6,972, 8,372, 8,469, 7,820, 7,594, and 4,775, respectively.
The pedestrian toll also remained significant. The data shows 101 pedestrian deaths in 2021, 131 in 2022, 158 in 2023, 144 in 2024, 477 in 2025, and 226 till July 27 this year. Pedestrian injuries during the same period stood at 754, 1,108, 1,264, 1,245, 1,715, and 1,005, respectively.
The Ministry said road accidents are a multi-causal phenomenon, resulting from the interplay of human error, road and environmental conditions, and vehicular factors. At the national level, overspeeding continues to account for the largest share of road accidents, followed by other traffic rule violations.
On various initiatives taken by the Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for road safety, the Minister said that the certain segments on National Highways (NHs) have been identified as black corridors which are continuous stretches qualifying the criteria of black spots i.e. locations with occurrence of certain number of accidents involving fatalities and grievous injuries. These black corridors have been identified on real-time basis through AI based tools developed by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. Based on the available accident data from Electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) for the period 2023– 2025, 6,358 Black corridors have been identified.
Government has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4E’s i.e. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. Accordingly, various initiatives have been taken for road safety in the country as detailed at Annexure-III.
Road Safety Audit (RSA) of all National Highways (NHs) has been made mandatory through third party auditors/ experts at all stages i.e. design, construction, operation and maintenance etc.
Published rules for revision of standards for Safety Belt, Restraint Systems and Safety Belt Reminder to provide provisions for applicability of revised standards for safety belt assemblies, safety belt anchorages and the installation of Safety Belts and Restraint Systems, in Motor vehicles of category M,N and L7 w.e.f. 01st April, 2025. Further, the vehicles of category M1, manufactured on and after the 1st April 2025, shall meet the requirement of safety belt reminder for all front facing rear seats as per AIS-145-2018.
