NEW DELHI: "When I go to attend international conferences where there is a discussion on road accidents, I try to hide my face," Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday, underlining he had set a target to reduce accidents by 50 per cent when he first took charge as the Road Transport and Highways Minister.

During a discussion on road accidents in Lok Sabha on Thursday, Gadkari said, "Forget about reducing the number of accidents, I have no hesitation to admit that it has been increased. When I go to attend international conferences where there is a discussion on road accidents, I try to hide my face."

He was replying to a supplementary during the Question Hour.

The minister said that for things to improve human behavior in India has to change, society has to change and rule of law has to be respected.

Gadkari said he and his family met with a major accident some years ago and he needed to be hospitalised for a long time. "By the grace of God, I and my family were saved. So I have my personal experience of accidents."

He said parking of trucks on road is a major cause for accidents and many of the trucks don't follow lane discipline.

He said he has ordered for following international standards in making bus body in India. There has to be a hammer near a bus window so that it can be broken easily in case of accidents, he said.

Earlier, Gadkari said road accidents claim 1.78 lakh lives annually in the country and 60 per cent of the victims are in the age group of 18-34 years.

He said while Uttar Pradesh leads the chart among states, Delhi tops the list for cities. In UP, over 23,000 people (or 13.7 per cent of the total deaths due to road accidents) died, followed by Tamil Nadu with over 18,000 (10.6 per cent) deaths.

In Maharashtra, the figure stands at over 15,000 (or nine per cent of the total deaths), followed by Madhya Pradesh with over 13,000 (eight per cent) deaths.

Delhi leads the city chart with over 1,400 deaths, followed by Bengaluru with 915 deaths. Jaipur registers 850 deaths due to road accidents.