Staff Reporter :
A total of 583 road accidents occurred nationwide, resulting in 544 fatalities and 867 injuries, the February Road Safety Foundation reported on Wednesday.
Among the deaths, 187 fatalities and 206 injuries were due to motorcycle accidents, the Foundation reported.
During this time, there were four maritime accidents, resulting in six deaths and two injuries. Additionally, 34 railway accidents caused 28 fatalities and 66 injuries.
According to the Foundation, in January, 472 people were killed in road accidents. On average, 15.22 people die every day.
Whereas, in February, an average of 18.75 people died every day; consequently, the mortality rate increased by 23.19 percent.
The Foundation’s Executive Director, Syedur Rahman, said that they have compiled the report based on information from the national dailies, seven online news portals, and electronic media.
The organisation has identified a number of major causes of road accidents, which include defective vehicles, reckless driving, drivers’ reckless mentality, incompetence, and physical and mental illnesses; slow-moving vehicles on highways; reckless motorcycle driving by youth; weak traffic management; the dearth of capacity of the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC); and corruption in public transport.
The foundation has also given some recommendations to reduce the number of accidents that have caused loss of life and property.
The recommendations to prevent road accidents include: initiatives to train drivers; specifying salary-working hours for drivers; enhancing BRTC’s efficiency; ensuring unrestricted enforcement of traffic laws for transport owners, workers, passengers, and pedestrians; closing down slow-moving vehicles on highways; and creating separate service roads for them.
It has also recommended the construction of road dividers on all highways in phases, ending corruption in public transport, reducing pressure on roads by improving rail and maritime transportation, promoting advanced transportation technology, and implementing the Road Transport Act 2018 without fail.
