India has the world’s highest number of traffic deaths. Could AI help save lives?

Last month, a bus carrying 42 passengers in Almora district of Uttarakhand “skidded before tumbling down a 60-metre gorge”.

Barring up to six survivors, all the other passengers died in the crash.

Road mishaps, whether on India’s highways or city streets, happen with such regularity that they do not stir either the central or state governments into taking strong preventive measures.

But advances in artificial intelligence could offer new solutions to tackling India’s road toll.

India’s road trauma burden

While over the last two decades there have been significant investments in the development of better road infrastructure in India, challenges persist.

These are in the form of poor maintenance of roads, inadequate safety measures, urban congestion, reckless driving, insufficient protection for vulnerable road users, weak enforcement of traffic laws and a lack of education and public awareness about safe driving practices.

As a consequence, India ranks as the top country in terms of the global road fatality rate, accounting for 11.7% of all deaths.

In 2022, India reported over 460,000 crashes that resulted in 168,491 deaths and 443,366 injuries.

The previous year, the numbers stood at 412,432 crashes, 153,972 deaths and 384,448 injuries.

This marks an increase of 11.9% for accidents, 9.4% for deaths and 15.3% for injuries.

While Tamil Nadu recorded the most number of road accidents between 2018 and 2022, the most deaths during the same period were...

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