Chennai, Jaipur, Indore and Delhi are among 47 cities across the world to register the highest rate of road fatalities. The latest 'Global Report on Urban Health' released by the UN-Habitat and WHO says the number of persons killed per lakh population in Chennai was the second highest across the major selected cities, at 26.6, next to Fortaleza, the capital of the Brazilian state of Ceara. Jaipur ranked fourth, Indore 16th while Kolkata, Delhi and Bangalore occupied 23rd, 24th and 25th positions respectively. Mumbai was in 40th position.

However, the report says progress on road traffic safety is achievable with interventions to reduce speed in urban areas and convenient public transportation.

"Today's Chennai could be tomorrow's Stockholm," it says. The Swedish capital reported only 0.7 death per one lakh population. Sweden has set the ambitious target of zero fatality.

Highlighting how cities, which are the hub of economic activities, need to step up to reduce traffic crashes and deaths, the report mentions that currently 26% of road traffic deaths occur among cyclists and pedestrians and in some cities it is as high as 75%. "In a study of road traffic accidents in Indian cities, the research found that pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for at least 44% of road traffic fatalities, but ranged as high as 60% in Mumbai," it said.