New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS): There were 4,12,432 incidents of road accidents during 2021 which claimed 1,53,972 lives and caused injuries to 3,84,448 people. This has been revealed in the annual report titled "Road accidents in India - 2021", which has been released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

"Road accidents decreased by 8.1 per cent and injuries decreased by 14.8 per cent in 2021 compared to 2019. Fatalities, however, on accounts of road accidents increased by 1.9 per cent in 2021 corresponding to the same period in 2019," the report, released on Wednesday, said.

Major indicators related to accidents have performed better in 2021 when compared to 2019, it added.

The report further noted that in 2020, the country saw an unprecedented decrease in accidents, fatalities and injuries.

"This was due to the unusual outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and resultant stringent nation-wide lockdown particularly during March-April 2020 followed by gradual unlocking and phasing out of the containment measures," the report said.

This report is based on the information received from police departments of states, collected on a calendar year basis in standardised formats as provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) under the Asia Pacific Road Accident Data (APRAD) base project.

It consists of 10 sections and covers information relating to road accidents in the context of road length and vehicular population.