In 2025, Keralam recorded 49,889 accidents and 3,733 deaths, with overspeeding cited as the leading cause of accidents, the Kerala High Court said, while considering a public interest litigation seeking effective measures for the prevention of road accidents.
A Division Bench of Justices V. Raja Vijayaraghavan and K.V. Jayakumar issued directions to the Public Works department (PWD), District Collectors, local self-government institutions, Transport Commissioner, police, National Highways Authority of India, and the Kerala Road Safety Authority to identify systemic deficiencies causing accidents.
The court observed that there was a lack of accountability among the various authorities that are responsible for road safety. “For instance, if potholes, black spots, or accident-prone or accident-causing stretches are pointed out, no action is taken,” the court said.
The Bench noted the recurring causes of fatal accidents, including over-speeding, reckless driving, overloading, illegal parking, roadside vending, issues with highway construction, damage to newly constructed roads due to utility works, and inadequate driver profiling in public transport. Deficient medians, improper lane markings, hazardous electrical lines, inadequate post-crash trauma response, poor quality of road construction, and unscientific schedules of private bus operations too contributed to accidents.
The court said that an end-to-end mechanism was required to identify road safety risks, accountability, remedial action, and monitoring compliance. Such a platform would integrate the existing systems of the PWD, Motor Vehicles department, Kerala Police, and other agencies into a unified command and monitoring framework accessible to the authorities, the public, and the court.
The court also called for the constitution of an interdisciplinary road safety research committee within 60 days, comprising traffic psychologists, behavioural scientists, engineers, and other experts, to study the behavioural factors contributing to road accidents.
For district-level coordination, the court ordered the constitution of a district road safety monitoring committee within 15 days to review pending complaints and ensure compliance with court orders.
Accordingly, the court granted 75 days for the authorities concerned to report back with compliance reports.
Published – September 27, 2026 07:30 am IST
