MoRTH Data · 2024
Road Accidents on National Highways
National highways make up about 2.1% of India's road network and account for 36.6% of its road deaths. In 2024 that meant 64,772 people killed across 1,50,958 accidents. This page sets out the official numbers by road category and by state, and what they say about why highway crashes are so much more lethal than others.
1,50,958
Accidents on NHs
31.0% of all road accidents
64,772
Deaths on NHs
36.6% of all road deaths
1,45,868
People injured
+2.0% over 2023
59,043
Fatal accidents
35.9% of all fatal accidents
Where India's road deaths happen
Every road accident in the country in 2024, split by the category of road it happened on.
| Road category | Accidents | Deaths | Fatal accidents |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Highways (incl. expressways) | 1,50,958 (31.0%) | 64,772 (36.6%) | 59,043 (35.9%) |
| State Highways | 1,03,538 (21.2%) | 39,277 (22.2%) | 36,392 (22.1%) |
| Other roads | 2,33,211 (47.8%) | 73,126 (41.3%) | 68,943 (41.9%) |
Read the first row against the third. Other roads — city streets, district and rural roads — carry the overwhelming majority of India's road length and see far more accidents. Yet national highways, at a fraction of the network, produce almost as many deaths. A crash on a highway is simply far more likely to kill someone.
Five-year trend on national highways
Accidents have been broadly flat since 2022 — but deaths have risen every single year.
| Year | Accidents | Deaths | Fatal accidents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020COVID lockdowns | 1,19,615 | 50,251 | 45,655 |
| 2021 | 1,28,825 | 56,007 | 50,953 |
| 2022 | 1,51,997 | 61,038 | 55,571 |
| 2023 | 1,50,177 | 63,112 | 57,467 |
| 2024 | 1,50,958 | 64,772 | 59,043 |
Between 2022 and 2024, accidents on national highways fell very slightly (1,51,997 to 1,50,958) while deaths rose from 61,038 to 64,772. The same number of crashes is killing more people each year — the pattern MoRTH tracks as rising accident severity, which for the country as a whole climbed from 21.6 deaths per 100 accidents in 2005 to 36.3 in 2024.
Top 10 states by deaths on national highways
Share is the state's percentage of all national highway fatalities in India in 2024.
| # | State | 2023 | 2024 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uttar Pradesh | 8,446 | 9,560 | 14.8% |
| 2 | Tamil Nadu | 6,258 | 6,376 | 9.8% |
| 3 | Maharashtra | 5,780 | 5,812 | 9.0% |
| 4 | Madhya Pradesh | 4,476 | 4,644 | 7.2% |
| 5 | Rajasthan | 4,172 | 4,285 | 6.6% |
| 6 | Karnataka | 4,383 | 4,278 | 6.6% |
| 7 | Andhra Pradesh | 3,806 | 4,014 | 6.2% |
| 8 | Bihar | 4,078 | 4,012 | 6.2% |
| 9 | Telangana | 3,058 | 3,066 | 4.7% |
| 10 | Odisha | 2,180 | 2,358 | 3.6% |
Uttar Pradesh alone accounts for close to one in seven national highway deaths in India, and added more than 1,100 deaths between 2023 and 2024 — by far the largest increase of any state. Karnataka and Bihar were the only states in this list to record a fall.
States with the most national highway accidents
20,672
Tamil Nadu
13.7% of NH accidents
17,113
Uttar Pradesh
11.3% of NH accidents
14,208
Karnataka
9.4% of NH accidents
13,937
Madhya Pradesh
9.2% of NH accidents
11,285
Maharashtra
7.5% of NH accidents
Tamil Nadu has reported the highest number of national highway accidents for seven consecutive years. Note how the two lists differ: Tamil Nadu leads on accidents but is second on deaths, while Uttar Pradesh leads on deaths with fewer accidents — UP's highway crashes are markedly more likely to be fatal.
Why highway crashes kill more
Speed above all
Overspeeding accounted for 70.3% of all road accident deaths in India in 2024 — 1,24,522 people. Highways are where speed is highest, and crash energy rises with the square of speed.
Open, unpoliced stretches
54.8% of road deaths occurred in open areas — places with little habitation and, as MoRTH notes, a lower enforcement presence than residential or commercial areas.
Straight roads, not curves
67.6% of accidents happened on straight roads. Curves, potholes and steep gradients together accounted for 13.8%. The problem is not difficult geometry — it is speed and inattention on easy road.
The protective-equipment gap compounds it. Across all roads in 2024, 54,122 people who died were not wearing a helmet and 14,466 were not wearing a seat belt. Two-wheeler riders alone were 46.2% of all road deaths — and two-wheelers share national highways with traffic moving at twice their speed.
What this means if you drive highways
Treat the posted limit as a ceiling, not a target.
The single largest killer in the data is speed, and it is the one factor entirely within your control. Expressway limits of 120 km/h apply to cars in ideal conditions — not at night, in rain, or in mixed traffic.
Long, easy, straight stretches are the dangerous ones.
Two-thirds of crashes happen on straight roads. Highway monotony degrades attention exactly where speeds are highest. Break long drives; do not push through drowsiness.
Assume no one is coming to help quickly.
More than half of road deaths occur in open areas away from habitation. On a highway, the gap between a crash and medical care is longer — which is part of why the same crash is more often fatal.
Seat belts in the rear are not optional.
Rear seat belts have been legally required since the 2019 amendment, and non-use killed 14,466 people in 2024. At highway speed an unbelted rear passenger is a lethal projectile for those in front.
Keep left unless overtaking.
Wrong-side driving and lane indiscipline killed 8,327 people in 2024. On a divided highway, an overtaking manoeuvre from the wrong lane closes at combined speed.
Explore the highways themselves
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people died on national highways in India in 2024?
Why are national highways so much more dangerous than other roads?
Which state has the most national highway deaths?
Which state has the most accidents on national highways?
Are national highway deaths increasing or decreasing?
What share of India's road accidents happen on national highways?
Is the speed limit on expressways really 120 km/h?
Source
All accident figures on this page are from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (Transport Research Wing), Road Accidents in India 2024, released June 2026. Road-category and national highway figures are from Section 2 (Tables 2.3, 2.6 and 2.7); cause, road-feature and neighbourhood figures from Section 3; road-user shares from Section 4. The 2.1% road-network share is the report's own figure.
MoRTH restates earlier years in each edition, so figures here may differ slightly from those published in previous years' reports. The 2024 edition is used throughout for consistency.