The year 2024 threw up some bleak statistics. There were 2607 road accidents, with 271 fatal accidents, resulting in 286 deaths. The highest number of deaths are in the age group of 25 to 35 years, followed by deaths of youngsters between 18 and 25 years of age. In the peak holiday season, in December 2024 alone, there were 243 accidents resulting in 24 deaths, where merriment has turned into tragedy.
Goa has virtually become the accident capital of India, compared to per lakh population accident deaths, though the absolute numbers in States such as Uttar Pradesh and other states is higher in terms of number of accidents. Fortunately, in the first quarter of 2025, Goa has seen a fall of 23% in accidents and 25% slide in road deaths. In the second quarter of 2025 too, there has been a 12% fall in road accidents and 14% decrease in road deaths.
The issue of alarming road deaths was raised through a calling attention motion in the Goa Assembly by Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao on Friday. He highlighted that out of the 286 deaths, 135 were of those below the age of 35. Also another startling statistic is the 25% rise in pedestrian deaths due to accidents. Yuri also claimed that 90% of the deaths occurred on straight roads.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated that about 50% of the road accidents in Goa are due to bad roads and also admitted that there is lack of coordination between various departments in road digging. Another startling statistic thrown up by Sawant was that the number of accidental deaths were more than those during the Corona virus epidemic of 2019. However, he laid majority of the blame at the doorstep of drivers and riders, specifically underlining rash driving.
The actual reasons for the high prevalence of road deaths in Goa are manifold –poor infrastructure, corruption and shoddy road works by contractors and poor supervision by PWD engineers, lack of road engineering, lax enforcement, but above all the main cause of accidents is human error linked to drunken driving, over speeding, use of smartphones, violation of traffic signs, wrong overtaking, wrong parking, and violation of every rule in the book. Also of late, the blame has been laid at the door of poor standards of driving schools in Goa and inadequate tests by RTO inspectors, resulting in licences being issued indiscriminately.
What is most alarming in the increasing road accidents, is the loss of young lives. The recent accidents show the tragic loss of youth in the prime of their lives. The July 10, 2025 Bethora Highway head on collision involved two youth riders, one aged 21 from Bethora and the other, a young girl of 22. The youth was reportedly riding his scooter in the wrong lane for about two kilometers and rammed into the female rider near the Bethora-Kannewal junction. This is a sheer fit of insanity.
On July 30, a 31-year-old resident of Tivim and another resident of Mapusa died when their two wheelers collided at Saligao. This too was a head-on collision.
Apart from accidents involving locals, the high number of accidents can also be attributed to boorish and drunken tourists and those who are out to break every rule presuming that ‘anything goes in Goa’. Statistics show that due to bad transportation and unregulated taxi fares the number of private tourists vehicles coming into the State have gone up drastically. Similarly, there has been a quantum jump in the number of rent-a-cars on Goan roads, adding to the chaos and accidents. The emergence of Google maps with no indication of ‘No Entry’ signs and ‘one way roads’ is another cause of accidents.
Alemao also called for a stop to the Franchise system introduced in Goa as far as rent a car licences are concerned.
On Friday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant outlined a series of measures in the Goa Assembly to reduce the number of accidents on roads. To tackle bad roads, Sawant announced a 100% ban on digging of roads after the rains cease. Any contractor who digs the road without the permission of the Public Works Department would be fined and asked to make good the road. To avoid digging of roads, he said that utility ducts would be laid for essential services. Secondly, road banking would be done, so that vehicles do not go off the road. Third, he assured to rectify the black spots. A fourth measure would be installation of signals and fifth would be to have vehicle mounted cameras to nab over speeding vehicles.
Over and above all these punitive and curative measures, the Chief Minister called for increased community participation, awareness and education. Parents have to educate and impress upon their children utmost safety on the roads. Tourist guides, rent a car owners and hotels should mandatorily educate tourists about road safety, so that their vacation does not turn into a nightmare for them or for others.
There has to be a meeting of all government departments, NGOs working of road safety, concerned citizens and educators and safety measures have to be adopted on a war footing. The situation is grave as accidents become the biggest killer in Goa, above cancer, heart or other lifestyle diseases. Lastly, enforcement of traffic safety rules must to be of paramount importance. No locals or tourists should be allowed to violate any of the traffic safety rules and the stiff fines which have been imposed by the New Motor Vehicle Act have to be enforced. The State cannot be allowed to lose its next generation to accidents, nor should Goa give the impression of being a soft state, where anything goes.