Nagpur: Road accident fatalities in Nagpur city declined by 27% during January-August 2026 as against the same period last year, placing the city second in Maharashtra in terms of percentage reduction, according to state-level accident data.Akola recorded the highest decline at 28% during the same period.Nagpur recorded 711 road accidents in the first eight months of 2026, in which 156 people were killed and 728 injured. During January-August 2025, the city had reported 840 accidents, resulting in 213 deaths and 817 injuries. Thus, the city saw a 15% decline in accidents, a 27% reduction in fatalities and an 11% fall in the number of injured persons.The reduction in fatalities comes amid intensified enforcement and road-safety measures by RTO and traffic police. RTO (City) Kiran Bidkar has led multiple drives focusing on traffic-rule compliance, while the traffic police have stepped up patrolling and checking under the supervision of DCP (Traffic) Aditya Mirkhelkar.Among the measures, Operation U-Turn and other targeted enforcement drives focused on violations that contribute to crashes. Increased patrolling at accident-prone locations, checking of vehicles and action against traffic violations were also undertaken as part of the efforts to improve road safety.RTO also conducted awareness and training programmes for school and college students, auto rickshaw and school-bus drivers, besides organising helmet rallies, walkathons, health and eye check-up camps and other road-safety initiatives.The city’s road accident figures have shown a sustained decline over the past two years. Nagpur recorded 1,255 accidents and 345 fatalities in 2024, while the figures fell to 1,153 accidents and 270 deaths in 2025. RTO had attributed the decline in 2025 to road-safety awareness and enforcement measures.The latest eight-month figures indicate that the decline has continued in 2026. The 711 accidents recorded until August represent 129 fewer crashes than during the corresponding period last year, while the fatality count has fallen by 57 deaths.However, the city still recorded an average of more than 19 road accidents and nearly six fatalities every week during the first eight months of 2026, underscoring the continuing road-safety challenge.RTO and traffic police have appealed to motorists to strictly follow traffic rules and use helmets and seat belts to sustain the decline in accidents and fatalities.Box:Year——-Total road accidents—-Fatalities—-Total injured2024——-1,255——————-345———1,2882025——-1,153——————-270———1,1442025 (Jan-Aug)——-840———–213———8172026 (Jan-Aug)——-711———–156———728
