The horrific car accident at Bandra early last morning that killed two persons and injured an equal number of others was totally senseless and easily avoidable. It is no secret that India has one of the highest road accidents in the world; in 2010, there were close to five lakh road accidents in India, resulting in 1,34,513 deaths compared to four lakh accidents and 80,888 deaths in 2001. One may argue that this is also caused by the increase in population, population density and the steep rise in the number of automobiles over a period of time.

But according to the ministry of roads and surface transport, the incidence of road accidents has more than doubled in India since 2010, even after taking into account the factors listed above. In fact, accident severity (that is, the number of people killed per 100 road accidents) rose from 19.9 in 2001 to 26.9 in 2010. Clearly, it is not the absolute numbers – which is a certainty given the circumstances - but the rate of accidents and their severity that is scary.