As many as 11,890 road accidents were caused by minors in the country between 2023 and 2024, with Tamil Nadu accounting for 2,063 accidents caused by drivers under the age of 18, according to the figures furnished in the parliament. Kerala recorded 645 accidents caused by minors in the same period. No accidents were caused by minors in Lakshadweep. In addition to Tamil Nadu, two states, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, recorded over 1,000 accidents caused by minors.

In May 2024, two people were killed in Pune after their two-wheeler was hit by a speeding Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy. The accident caused nationwide outrage after the boy was granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board on lenient conditions, including penning a 300-word essay on road safety. The board later cancelled the bail.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has collected over Rs 48 lakh between 2023 and 2024 by issuing challans to under-age drivers for violation of traffic rules. Bihar leads the list with 1,316 challans yielding Rs 44.27 lakh. Majority of the cases pertained to instances where the owner permitted an unlicensed or an under-age driver to use the vehicle.

Kerala has also witnessed many accidents, including fatal ones, caused by minors in 2024. In December 2024, a 63-year-old woman who was admitted to the hospital after she was mown down by a two-wheeler succumbed to injuries in Kollam. A two-wheeler driven by a 15-year-old boy knocked her down while she was crossing the road. Kollam East police initiated a probe and found out that the two-wheeler was owned by the boy's grandfather.

Recently, a car driven by a minor fell into the canal in Kannur. In 2024, the Kerala High Court observed that the instances of minors taking the wheel without a license have been on the increase, leading to numerous accidents. "With a near immunity against prosecution of a minor, the tendency to indulge in such acts unabashedly has seen a rise, with the owners of motor vehicles not taking due precautions to prevent such acts," the court noted. The HC also issued a set of guidelines for action.

It said that proceedings against the guardian of a juvenile or owner of a motor vehicle under the relevant section of the Motor Vehicles Act can be initiated if information regarding the juvenile's commission of an offence has been recorded in the General Diary. It further said that the recording of information has to be followed by the submission of a social background report of the child.