Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Monday said pedestrians and two-wheeler riders accounted for about 70% of road accident deaths in the state in 2023, as the Thane police launched a mobile traffic education initiative under the Road Safety Campaign 2026.
The ‘Traffic School on Wheels’ programme was inaugurated in Thane to provide practical road-safety guidance to students, drivers, commercial vehicle operators and other citizens. The initiative will cover traffic rules, safe driving behaviour, helmet and seat-belt use, speed limits, signal compliance, lane discipline and the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol, Sarnaik said at the event.
According to figures cited by the minister, 3,110 pedestrians and around 7,782 two-wheeler riders died in road accidents in Maharashtra during 2023. This amounted to an average of eight to nine pedestrian deaths and 21 two-wheeler rider deaths every day. Pedestrians represented around 20% of all road accident fatalities in the state, while two-wheeler riders accounted for nearly half, he said.
Sarnaik also cited national figures for 2023, underlining the scale of the road-safety challenge beyond Maharashtra. Across India, 35,203 pedestrians and 77,539 two-wheeler riders were killed in road accidents during the year. The figures worked out to an average of 96 pedestrian deaths and 212 two-wheeler rider deaths every day, according to the data presented at the event.
The minister said traffic-rule violations should not be viewed only as legal offences or breaches subject to penalties, but as behaviour that can have serious consequences for families. He said road safety was a shared responsibility involving the police, transport authorities, drivers, pedestrians and citizens.
The mobile traffic school is intended to take traffic education directly to residents through modern teaching methods. Its sessions will address risky behaviour including mobile-phone use while driving, speeding, riding without a helmet and ignoring traffic signals. Sarnaik particularly urged young people to make road safety part of their daily habits.
The programme was launched in the presence of legislators Sanjay Kelkar and Ravindra Phatak, Thane Mayor Sharmila Pimpalolkar, Kalyan-Dombivli Mayor Harshali Chaudhary, Thane Police Commissioner Ashutosh Dumbre, Joint Commissioner of Police Dr Dnyaneshwar Chavan and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Pankaj Shirsat. Police officers, personnel and school students also attended the inauguration.
The Thane police are expected to use the ‘Traffic School on Wheels’ to conduct awareness sessions for the identified groups as part of the Road Safety Campaign 2026.
