Pedestrian Deaths on National Highways Surge 43% in Five Years

In 2024, more than 11,000 people were killed while walking on India’s National Highways, a 43% jump from 2020.

That means about one in every 16 people who died in road crashes were pedestrians.

The numbers were shown to Parliament by MP Manish Tewari.

He said the government is not doing enough to build safe walkways, even though the Supreme Court said such paths are a basic right.

The government says it is adding pedestrian infrastructure, but critics say it is too slow.

The biggest number of deaths in 2024 was in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The data shows that many people are still at risk when they cross highways in India.