Key facts
- 460 people killed by wrong-side driving on Maharashtra highways in 2025
- Wrong-side driving identified as a major highway menace
- Data reported by The Indian Express
Wrong-side driving has claimed 460 lives on Maharashtra's highways in 2025, according to road accident data reported by The Indian Express, cementing its status as one of the deadliest and most persistent causes of highway fatalities in the state.
The figure is a damning indictment of both driver behaviour and enforcement failures on Maharashtra's road network. Wrong-side driving — where a vehicle travels against the flow of traffic, often on high-speed national or state highways — is among the most preventable causes of fatal accidents, yet it continues to occur with lethal regularity. Head-on collisions caused by wrong-way drivers leave little chance of survival, particularly at the speeds typical of highway travel.
The data points to a broader crisis in road safety across India, where highway expansion has outpaced improvements in traffic management, signage, and enforcement. Maharashtra, with its extensive network of expressways and national highways connecting Mumbai to other major cities, sees a disproportionately high volume of traffic — and, correspondingly, a high number of fatal accidents.
Road safety advocates have long called for a combination of physical barriers to prevent vehicles from entering wrong-way, improved signage, technology-based monitoring, and stricter penalties for errant drivers. The 2025 toll from this single cause alone will likely intensify pressure on the state government and the National Highways Authority to act before the year ends.