The Supreme Court has directed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to publish the annual report on "Road Accidents in India of 2023" by August 2025. The order emphasizes the importance of making such reports public within six months after the end of every calendar year to ensure their timely utility.

This directive was issued by a bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan after the government informed the court that the report's publication process was underway. The court stressed that the timely release of this data is crucial for informed decision-making and effective interventions to improve road safety.

The Supreme Court's direction comes against the backdrop of alarming statistics regarding road accidents in India. In 2023, India recorded over 4.80 lakh road accidents, resulting in over 1.72 lakh deaths. This marks a 2.6% increase in fatalities compared to the 1.68 lakh deaths in 2022. These accidents resulted in an average of 1,317 road crashes and 474 fatalities every day, or 55 crashes and 20 fatalities every hour.

The data shared by states with the ministry indicates a 4.2% increase in road accidents from 2022, when 4,62,312 crashes were recorded. The crashes also resulted in 4,62,825 injuries in 2023, averaging 53 injuries per hour.

Several factors contribute to the high number of road accidents in India. These include human error, such as reckless driving and speeding, failure to use safety devices like helmets and seatbelts, and vehicle overloading. Over-speeding was the leading cause of fatalities in 2023, accounting for 68.1% of all road crash deaths. A significant proportion of deaths involved vulnerable road users, with two-wheeler users accounting for 44.8% and pedestrians making up nearly 20% of all road crash fatalities.

The Supreme Court has also expressed concern over the lack of implementation of schemes providing cashless treatment during the "golden hour" following accidents. The court had previously set a deadline for the rollout of such schemes and has reprimanded the government for failing to meet it.

The Motor Vehicles Act was amended in 2019 to increase fines for traffic violations, but this has had a limited impact. Experts have also pointed to the failure to enforce Section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which enhances imprisonment for fatal road accidents, as a contributing factor.