Discrepancy Reported in NCRB, Transport Ministry Data on Road Crash Fatalities
New Delhi: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the Ministry of Road Transport have presented conflicting figures on road crash fatalities in 2022. In some categories, the difference was as much as 42%.
The ministry's report indicates 32,825 pedestrian fatalities – a 32% increase compared to the NCRB's data. However, in the case of truck occupants, the NCRB reported 15,087 deaths, which was 42.5% more than the ministry’s figures.
Experts attributed these discrepancies to the limited understanding of field staff involved in data collection.
Even deaths of car, jeep, and other light motor vehicle occupants vary between the NCRB and ministry reports, highlighting the need for a standardised data collection system, the Times of India reported.
"The road transport ministry uses 21 inter-linked formats for annual data collection, but discrepancies arise due to limited understanding of the field staff. There's inconsistency in counting victim versus accused vehicles, especially in pedestrian incidents, leading to data inaccuracies. The NCRB uses different input methods with CCTNS raw data," Navdeep Asija, traffic adviser to the Punjab government, told the paper.
Also read: 'Global Road Deaths Drop 5%, India’s Record Worsens': WHO Report
He added that collaboration between the transport and home ministries is essential to standardise data collection in this domain.
The importance of training police personnel in recording incidents and investigating crashes was also prominently raised at the recently-held 'Global Road Safety Initiative' by UN agencies at the Institute of Traffic Education.
Road transport secretary Anurag Jain acknowledged the issue and said the newly-launched e-Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) system was doing well and had improved the congruence between police and ministry data, the Times of India reported.
Road traffic deaths and injuries remain the leading cause of death for individuals aged 5-29 years and the 12th leading cause of death globally, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
In its recently released Global Status Report on Road Safety, data revealed that while there has been a 5% reduction in global road crash deaths from 2011 to 2021, India’s recorded fatalities increased in the same period.
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