Guwahati: Assam recorded more than 27,000 road deaths in eight and a half years, with accidents nearly doubling during the period and fatalities going up nearly a third, according to Centre figures.More than 78,000 road accidents were recorded in the state between Jan 2018 and July 2026, resulting in over 27,000 deaths. That amounts to about one death for every three accidents.2025 was the worst year, with 16,026 accidents claiming nearly 4,000 lives — the highest toll since 2018.Five major accidents in 2026 have killed 45 people so far, including 23 in Friday’s head-on collision between a minibus and a container truck in Kaziranga.Govt figures show that the daily death toll on Assam’s roads rose in 2019 before falling to 7.2 in 2020, when Covid-19 lockdowns kept vehicles off the roads. Deaths fell 19% that year to 2,629.Since then, the toll has rebounded, rising above pre-pandemic levels. Deaths increased to 3,036 in 2021, dipped marginally to 2,994 in 2022, and then rose to 3,296 in 2023 and 3,351 in 2024. From the 2020 low to the 2025 peak, deaths increased 49%.Over the period beginning in 2018, the number of recorded accidents more than doubled, while deaths rose by only 16%. The figures do not explain the disparity. It may reflect wider recording of minor accidents rather than a real surge in crashes. Deaths, which are harder to under-report, remain the more dependable yardstick.For most of the period, the rise in deaths was not driven by an increase in the number of accidents. Recorded accidents remained within a narrow range of 6,600 to 8,400 a year between 2018 and 2024. The 2024 figure of 7,848 was actually lower than the 2018 figure of 8,248.During the same period, however, accidents became deadlier. Deaths per 100 accidents rose from 36 in 2018 to 44 in 2023, meaning roughly four in every 10 recorded accidents resulted in a death.The 2025 data marked a sharp departure from this trend. Recorded accidents more than doubled to 16,026 from 7,848 the previous year — about 44 accidents a day. In the first seven months of 2026, 9,758 accidents were recorded, or about 46 a day.
