Indian roads, which account for the highest fatalities in the world, became yet more dangerous in 2015 with the number of deaths rising nearly 5% to 1.46 lakh. This translates to 400 deaths a day or one life snuffed out every 3.6 minutes, in what an expert described as a "daily massacre on our roads". The number comes as a wake-up call for the government, whose minister Nitin Gadkari has set a goal of reducing road fatalities by 50% by 2020. According to provisional police data provided by states, Uttar Pradesh recorded the maximum number of road deaths (17,666), followed by Tamil Nadu (15,642), Maharashtra (13,212), Karnataka (10,856) and Rajasthan (10,510).

While the number of road fatalities increased in all big states, 10 smaller ones and UTs, including Delhi and Chandigarh, reported a decline. Assam registered the sharpest decline of 115 deaths in 2015 in comparison to the previous year, while fatalities dipped by 49 in Delhi.

The increasing number of fatalities and road crashes - up from 4.89 lakh in 2014 to over five lakh in 2015 - indicated how a slew of initiatives taken by the Centre and state governments for road safety had had little impact. The Supreme Court appointed panel on road safety has written to state governments to step up efforts to curb crashes and fatalities.

"We need a comprehensive legislation to deal with this daily massacre on our roads. Stronger law and better enforcement are the key to reduce crashes," said K K Kapila of International Road Federation.