Punjab road fatalities up 19%

Deaths outpace annual increase in accidents

LAHORE:

Road traffic crashes (RTCs) across Punjab have claimed 4,791 lives in 2025 so far, marking a sharp 19 per cent increase in fatalities compared to the previous year, despite a slower rise in the number of accidents, data from Rescue 1122 shows.

According to the emergency service's annual statistics, a total of 482,870 road traffic accidents have been reported in Punjab during 2025, resulting in injuries to nearly 570,000 people. In comparison, 467,561 accidents were recorded in 2024, which led to 4,139 deaths, while 420,387 crashes in 2023 claimed 3,967 lives.

The figures highlight a worrying trend: while road traffic accidents increased by 5.8% in 2025 - significantly lower than the 11.9% rise observed in 2024 - the number of deaths rose disproportionately, indicating greater severity of crashes.

Emergency Services Secretary Dr Rizwan Naseer expressed concern over the data while presiding over an annual operational review meeting on road traffic crashes.

"In Pakistan, a road traffic accident occurs almost every minute, and tragically, the primary victims are often the breadwinners of families," he said, terming the situation in Punjab "extremely alarming".

Dr Naseer noted that more than 75% of fatal accidents involved motorcycles, underscoring the vulnerability of two-wheeler riders. He stressed that reducing motorcycle speeds to 50 kilometres per hour alone could significantly lower the number of injuries and deaths. "Every increase of one kilometre per hour raises the risk of a fatal accident by four to 5%," he warned.

The meeting was attended by heads of various wings of the emergency services department, the provincial monitoring officer, and district emergency officers (DEOs) who joined via video link.

Officials reviewed major emergencies, district-level performance, operational challenges, case studies and lessons learned during the year.

A briefing by the head of operations revealed that Lahore had recorded the highest number of road traffic accidents in 2025, with 88,743 cases, followed by Faisalabad (32,309) and Multan (29,804).

At the other end of the spectrum, Murree reported the lowest number of accidents at 1,889, while Attock recorded 3,748 and Jhelum 4,301 crashes.

Interestingly, despite high absolute numbers, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad all showed a decline in road accidents compared to 2024. Accidents fell by 5.85% in Lahore, 4.33% in Rawalpindi and 1.82% in Faisalabad.

However, the data showed an increase in RTCs in 34 other districts across Punjab.

An analysis of vehicle involvement revealed that motorcycles were responsible for 75% of all accidents. Cars accounted for 8.6%, rickshaws 4.7%, buses, trucks and vans 4.3%, while 7.4% involved other types of vehicles.

Pedestrians were affected in 10.34% of road accidents, highlighting the risks faced by those walking on or near busy roads.

In terms of injuries, the Rescue 1122 data showed that the majority of victims suffered fractures and head injuries. These included 39,250 cases of single fractures, 19,603 head injuries, 8,362 multiple fractures and 1,125 spinal injuries. Of the 569,901 people injured in road crashes, 80.6% were men and 19.4% women.

The data also pointed to a sharp rise in certain categories of accidents. Tractor-trolley crashes increased by 27%, followed by car (17%), motorcycle (15%), bus (14%), rickshaw (13%) and truck (10%).

Accidents involving vans showed a slight decrease of 2%.

The provincial secretary emphasised the use of properly fastened helmets that do not obstruct vision or hearing and warned against risky practices such as women sitting sideways on motorcycles or wearing loose clothing that could get caught in wheels.