Around 14,000 people died in 46,247 road accidents in India in May 2015, reported PTI. The data was announced after Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari released an annual report, Road Accidents in India. According to the report, the number of accidents in May 2015 make up more than 9% of the total 5 lakh such crashes that took place last year. Around 1.4 lakh people were killed and as many injured in accidents in 2015.

There were as many as 42,842 accidents in March last year, accounting for 8.5% of total collisions in 2015. Gadkari said he was “deeply pained” to find out 17 people die in 57 crashes every hour and over 54% of those killed were aged 15-34 years. “This magnitude was not killed in wars, epidemic and militancy,” he said.

The report also finds that more than 17% of road accidents occur between 3 pm and 6 pm. The second deadliest time is between 6 pm and 9 pm. Contrary to popular belief, the least number of collisions take place between midnight and 3 am.

The study also reveals that accidents occur more in rural areas. “The total number of road accidents in urban areas were lower at 2,31,894 as compared to number of accidents in rural areas that stood at 2,69,529,” said the report.

Of all vehicles, most crashes occur with two-wheelers, followed by cars, jeeps and taxis, and in 77.1% of the cases, it is the driver's fault. “Driver’s fault has been revealed as the single most responsible factor for road accidents, killings and injuries on all roads for a long period of time… Driver’s fault accounted for 77% of total accidents in 2015," said the report.

The report adds that among Indian cities, Mumbai saw the most road accidents while Delhi witnessed the highest deaths caused by road mishaps. “Mumbai had 23,468 number of road accidents in 2015 while Delhi saw 1,622 deaths due to road accidents,” said the study.