Mumbai: In a shocking revelation, at least 25 teenagers are killed in road accidents everyday -- or an average of one each hour -- in India, coming to a whopping total of around 9,400 annually, an NGO said here on Friday.
Citing the stunning figures for 2017, the NGO Synergie, said the majority of these accidents involved two-wheelers like scooters, motorcycles or mopeds and largely due to helmetless driving or pillion riding by the youngsters.
The reason is kids, mostly teenagers, tend to overspeed, indulge in rash driving and drive without helmets. As per the 2017 data, the total injuries due to helmetless driving were 35,975 and 36,687 deaths for all categories of two-wheeler driving.
The revelations came at a workshop which included Synergie, Global Road Safety Partnership, hosted by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, attended by around two dozen school and college principals and others.
Expressing concerns over the large number of juvenile deaths due to helmetless driving, including pillion riding, experts said it was aggravated by the dark world of motorbike stunts and illegal street races.
“Education, awareness, and enforcement is the answer to ensure that kids and adults wear helmets while driving on the roads,” urged Maharashtra's Joint Transport Commissioner Jitendra Patil.
