Pune road crash deaths down 15%, but pedestrians, two-wheeler riders account for 90% of fatalities

Overall decline in fatal road accidents

Pune city recorded a 15 per cent reduction in road crash deaths, with fatalities dropping from 341 in 2024 to 290 in 2025. Number of crashes involving deaths also declined from 329 to 275. The findings also include numbers of road crash deaths in Pune City from 2019 (173), 2020 (156), 2021 (243), 2022 (327) and 2023 (370). Thus 2025 road crash death numbers are still 19 per cent higher than the 2021 numbers, officials said.

Pedestrians and two-wheeler riders account for 90 per cent of deaths

Despite the overall decline, pedestrians and powered two-wheeler occupants — riders and pillion riders — continue to bear the brunt of road fatalities, together accounting for 259 out of 290 — around 90 per cent — of all deaths in 2025. Officials said that disproportionate share calls for the requirement of concerted efforts towards walking environments, adequate crossings, and also points to exposure of two-wheeler riders in mixed traffic conditions dominated by faster and heavier vehicles and non adherence to helmet rule.

Serious injuries continue to rise

While road accident deaths have reduced, serious injuries have continued to increase, with more than 830 people seriously injured in road crashes in 2025, which showed slight increase from 819 in 2024. Serious injury crashes have consistently outnumbered fatal crashes throughout the year. But this number is significantly higher than the number of serious injuries in 2021, which was 517 — showing a 60 percent rise in serious injuries from 2021 to 2025.

Young and working-age population most affected

Over half of all road crash deaths (52 percent or 138) occurred among males aged 20–49 years, highlighting young and middle-aged men as the most vulnerable group. Elderly females aged 60 years and above accounted for about 34 percent (20) of total female road crash deaths. Eight percent of victims who died did not have data on indicating opportunity to improve data collection. Police said that called for targeted interventions for younger population involving enforcement, awareness campaigns and pedestrian Infrastructure

Elderly pedestrians face higher risks

Although fatalities are numerically higher among younger adults, the risk of death increases sharply with age, with the highest death rates recorded among those aged 70 years and above. Elderly pedestrians, especially women, remain particularly vulnerable due to slower walking speeds, poor footpath continuity, and limited safe crossing opportunities on wide arterial roads, officials said based on data.

High proportion of hit-and-run fatalities

As much as 54 percent of all fatal crashes in Pune in 2025 were classified as hit-and-run cases, indicating a serious challenge in enforcement and accountability. The high incidence of hit-and-run cases also points to delayed emergency response and reduced chances of survival for victims, especially during late-night hours.

High-risk corridors identified

As much as 37 per cent of the fatal crashes occurred on major highway stretches within the city limits, particularly the Pune–Solapur and Pune–Ahilyanagar highways, Pune–Mumbai bypass, Pune Saswad and Pune Satara which carry a mix of high-speed through traffic and local movement. Certain stretches, including the Pune–Mumbai bypass, show disproportionately high deaths per kilometre, highlighting the need for corridor-specific safety audits, speed control, and access control, officials said.

The report suggests following measures

1) Improve pedestrian safety and accessibility especially of the elderly: sidewalks, raised crossings, other pedestrian infrastructure.

2) Develop infrastructure that encourages a shift from private vehicles to public transportation.

3) Strictly enforce and implement helmet-clasping laws to reduce motorcyclist fatalities.

4) Prioritize the reduction of speeding through a combination of infrastructure, enforcement, and communications interventions.

5) Address data quality issues: inclusion of key indicators in FIRs such as age and gender of people involved, location details, georeferencing.

6) Establishment of crash analysis team and in routine production of Pune City Road Safety Report