The Silent Killer: More People Dying On Roads In India Than In Suicides & Murders, Reveals Data

Last Updated:November 04, 2025, 16:22 IST

Between 2014 and 2023, India lost an average of 420 people every day to road accidents---higher than the suicide toll (400) and murder victims (84)

The analysis of the NCRB data shows that the chances of being killed on Indian roads is roughly five times higher than to be murdered. (PTI)

In India, a person’s chances of dying in a road accident are far higher than being murdered or dying by suicide. India has lost close to 15 lakh lives to road crashes in the 10-year period between 2014 and 2023, analysis of official data by News18 shows.

The roads have emerged as the far bigger and more silent killer. In the year 2023, the latest year for the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, India lost 28,587 lives due to murder, 1.71 lakh lives in suicides and 1.73 lakh people in road accidents.

A Decade of Grim Numbers

Between 2014 and 2023, India lost an average of 420 people every day to road accidents—higher than the suicide toll (400) and murder victims (84). Together, that’s over 900 lives lost every single day to just these three causes.

About one person is being killed on the road every three minutes, while one suicide is taking place almost every four minutes and a murder every 17 minutes.

Consistently on Rise

The total road accident deaths are on a consistent rise from 1.41 lakh in 2014 to 1.74 lakh in 2023. The only exception was for the year 2020 when deaths fell sharply, mainly due to restricted mobility. The years 2020 and 2021 were the only time in the decade when suicides overtook road deaths briefly, mostly due to challenging pandemic time.

While the jump in suicide cases was steeper than road accident deaths, it did not surpass the latter apart from 2020 and 2021.

On the contrary, murder fatalities fell by about 19 per cent between 2014 and 2023, marking the only consistent decline among the three categories.

The pandemic-induced dip for road accident deaths in 2020 was short-lived. Road deaths roared back by 17 per cent in 2021. By 2022, road deaths had crossed the pre-pandemic peaks and hit record highs by 2023, underlining that India’s most persistent killer is not crime or self-harm but unsafe roads and inadequate enforcement.

No End to Road Deaths

In 2025, a series of road accidents in various parts has yet again made the talk necessary. On Monday, a total of 19 passengers, including an infant, were killed when a gravel-laden lorry rammed into a state transport corporation bus near Hyderabad.

In a short span of less than a month, Rajasthan has seen three major road accidents that have killed over 45 people. The latest accident took place on Monday, killing 12 people, when an empty dumper truck rammed into multiple vehicles over a 300-metre stretch.

On Sunday, 15 persons were killed in Rajasthan when a tempo traveller carrying passengers crashed into a parked truck on the Bharatmala Expressway at Matoda.

Last month, two major bus tragedies shook the nation—killing over 40 people combined—and one of these was in Rajasthan. Over 20 people were burnt alive when a sleeper bus caught fire on the Jaisalmer-Jodhpur Highway. Another 20 people were killed in the bus mishap in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnoor when a Bengaluru-bound sleeper bus caught fire after an accident.

The analysis of the NCRB data shows that the chances of being killed on Indian roads is roughly five times higher than to be murdered—a stark reminder that India’s deadliest threat comes with a steering wheel, not a weapon.

Nivedita Singh

Nivedita Singh is a data journalist and covers the Election Commission, Indian Railways and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She has nearly seven years of experience in the news media. She tweets @nived...Read More

Nivedita Singh is a data journalist and covers the Election Commission, Indian Railways and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She has nearly seven years of experience in the news media. She tweets @nived...

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