NEW DELHI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Deaths in road accidents due to use of mobile phones while driving rose by over 33 percent in India in 2019 compared to the previous year, a latest report released by the federal road transport ministry has revealed.
A total of 4,945 deaths took place in the country during 2019 due to the use of mobile phones while driving, as compared to 3,707 deaths during 2018, said the ministry's report.
According to the report, a total of 151,113 road accident deaths took place across the country during 2019.
Over the years India has had a dismal track record in terms of road accident deaths, and continues to remain among the worst affected countries.
"India ranks first in the number of road accident deaths across the globe and accounts for almost 11 percent of the accident related deaths in the world," said Giridhar Aramane, a top official in the federal road transport ministry.
The report, released earlier this week, stated the country's capital city of Delhi topped both in the number of crashes and the number of fatalities therein.
It was followed by cities including Jaipur, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kanpur.
"A total number of 449,002 accidents took place in the country during the calendar year 2019 leading to 151,113 deaths and 451,361 people suffering injuries," said the annual report.
The report's data also revealed that nearly 30 percent of the total road accident deaths in 2019 were due to reasons like not wearing helmets by two-wheeler riders, and 16 percent of the deaths were on account of not wearing seatbelts while driving four-wheelers.
A total of 56,136 two-wheeler riders died during 2019, out of which as many as 44,666 two-wheeler riders died because of not wearing helmets. The northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which is also the country's biggest state in terms of population, topped this category with 7,069 deaths.
Commenting on the report on road accident deaths, the country's Junior Minister for Road Transport V.K. Singh said "it is indeed a matter of great concern." Enditem
