New Delhi: Road crashes are the biggest cause of deaths due to unintentional injuries in India, accounting for more than 43 per cent of such fatalities, with overspeeding being the leading reason, according to a new report.

The other contributors to deaths due to unintentional injuries are drowning, falls, poisoning and burns.

The report titled “National Strategy for prevention of unintentional injury”, compiled by the Ministry of Health, was launched during “Safety 2024”, the 15th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, 2024.

“There were 4,30,504 deaths from unintentional injuries and 1,70,924 deaths due to intentional injuries in India in 2022. From 2016 to 2022, there has been a marginal increase in deaths due to unintentional and intentional injuries. Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) are the highest cause of unintentional injuries (43.7 per cent),” the report said.

While drowning accounts for 7.3 to 9.1 per cent of such fatalities, falls contribute 4.2 to 5.5 per cent, poisoning 5.6 per cent and burns 6.8 per cent, it added.

The report noted that despite efforts to improve road safety, India continues to grapple with a high number of fatalities due to road traffic injuries (RTIs).