Why the Govt is turning to AI to stop 35,000 ‘hidden’ two-wheeler deaths

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 17, 2026 02:24 PM IST

Acknowledging that the automobile industry was car-centric, a senior official from the road transport ministry on Monday said that the government was mulling charting out a plan with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to curb the deaths of two-wheeler riders— which account for 45% of total fatalities.

Two-wheelers do not offer any structural protection like cars and therefore in case of an accident, the impact is very high.

“In road safety, all industries are car centric, not two-wheeler centric. All safety features are about the cars, but what about the two wheelers. It is a very-very big area. 45% fatalities are of two wheelers. 20% are of pedestrians. Everything is about cars only, but nobody thinks about scooters,” said Pankaj Aggarwal, Chief Engineer, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

He was speaking during a session on ‘AI for Road Safety: Data-Driven Solutions for Enhancing Road Safety in India’ at the AI Impact Summit in Bharat Mandapam on Monday.

“That is a big area where the ministry, in future, is planning how to go about this to invite the industry, invite the people. Because a simple accident with two wheeler leads to head injury. 35,000 deaths occur in a collision between two- wheeler to two-wheeler only, not by car. These are low speed data. Why is it happening, someone has to give feedback on this,” said the official.

The ministry, in collaboration with IIT Madras’ Centre of Excellence for Road Safety, is working on applications that support safer mobility, training drivers and building data driven hyperlocal models.

One of such initiatives is Sadak Suraksha Mitra Programme, which is currently being implemented in high-risk and high-fatality 100 districts of the country.

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“With this programme, we want people to involve them as volunteers to understand the basics of road safety. The road safety legislations like use of helmets are not made just to collect the challans, it is to protect individuals’ heads. You will become the future of our road safety advocates, future road safety auditors. Through this, we also want to understand what gen-Z thinks about road safety, and what can be the future challenges of road safety,” said RP Shukla, Director (Road Safety), MoRTH during the discussion.

The data available with the MoRTH shows that a total of 1.77 lakh people died in road accidents in 2024. Out of that, 54,493 died because of not wearing a helmet.

Similarly, 54,568 people in 2023 and 50,029 people in 2022 died in road accidents because of non-wearing of helmets.

In 2023, data shows that a total of 77,539 people died in accidents involving two-wheelers.

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Category wise accidents and fatalities data for 2024 onwards is not available yet.

Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with the Business Bureau of The Indian Express. He plays a critical role in covering India’s massive infrastructure sectors, providing in-depth reporting on the connectivity lifelines of the nation.
Expertise & Focus Areas: Mishra’s journalism is focused on two of the country’s most capital-intensive and public-facing ministries:

Ministry of Railways: Tracking the operations, safety, and development of India’s vast railway network.

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways: Covering policy decisions, infrastructure projects, and highway development.

What sets Mishra apart is his rigorous use of the Right to Information (RTI) Actas a primary tool for news gathering. By relying on official data and government records, he ensures a high degree of accuracy and trustworthiness in his reporting. This data-driven approach has resulted in numerous impactful reports that hold public institutions accountable and bring transparency to government operations.
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