05 February,2026 11:25 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Maharashtra currently has a vehicular population of more than 4.5 crore. Representational Pic/File
Maharashtra has recorded an increase in road accidents and serious injuries for the sixth consecutive year, although road deaths have shown a marginal decline, officials said on Thursday, reported the PTI.
The figures are based on provisional accident data for 2025 released by the state transport department.
The state reported 36,450 road accidents in 2025, continuing the upward trend despite stricter enforcement measures. The number of people seriously injured in accidents rose by eight per cent during the year.
Official data shows that Maharashtra recorded 24,971 road accidents in 2020. This number rose to 29,477 in 2021, 33,383 in 2022, 35,243 in 2023, 36,110 in 2024, and further to 36,450 in 2025, according to the PTI.
After a sharp decline in 2020 due to restrictions during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, accident numbers have increased steadily every year since.
Maharashtra currently has a vehicular population of more than 4.5 crore.
Despite the rise in accidents, the state managed to reduce road fatalities slightly in 2025, marking the first such decline since 2021.
In 2025, Maharashtra recorded 15,549 deaths in 14,440 fatal accidents, compared with 15,715 deaths in 14,565 fatal accidents in 2024.
However, the overall trend in fatalities has remained upward since 2020, when 11,569 people lost their lives in road accidents.
The death toll increased to 13,528 in 2021, 15,224 in 2022, 15,366 in 2023, and 15,715 in 2024.
In a release issued on January 22, Additional Transport Commissioner Bharat Kalaskar said the reduction of 166 deaths, or 1.05 per cent, in 2025 reflected the positive impact of continuous road safety measures taken by the transport department, as per the PTI.
The release said the state government has set a target of reducing road accidents by 50 per cent by the year 2030. Measures include the formation of road safety cells at both state and district levels, among other initiatives.
While fatalities declined slightly, the number of serious injuries continued to rise. Maharashtra recorded 23,756 serious injuries in road accidents in 2025, up from 22,051 in 2024.
The data shows a steady increase in serious injuries over the years: 13,971 in 2020, 16,073 in 2021, 19,540 in 2022, 21,446 in 2023, and 22,051 in 2024.
Sanjay Sasane, principal of the Institute of Driving Training and Research Society (IDTRS) in Pune, said poor driver training is one of the major reasons for the rise in road accidents.
He pointed out that while motor vehicle rules prescribe a training syllabus for all drivers, mandatory training currently applies only to commercial vehicle drivers.
Sasane, a former RTO officer, said that two-wheelers and four-wheelers account for nearly 70 per cent of road accidents and vehicles on the road, yet this segment receives limited attention, the news agency reported.
He stressed the need for a proper training mechanism to educate drivers about traffic rules, emergency vehicle control, and hazard perception to improve road safety.
(with PTI inputs)
