Staff Reporter:
A total of 469 people were killed and 1,280 injured in 469 road accidents across the country in October, according to a report by the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association (BPWA).
The group’s Accident Monitoring Cell compiled the data from news reports published in national, regional, and online media, said a press release.
The report also shows that 52 railway accidents killed 47 people and injured 30, while 11 waterway accidents left 12 dead and one missing. Altogether, 532 accidents on roads, railways, and waterways claimed 528 lives and injured 1,310 people during the month.
Motorcycles were the deadliest vehicle type, accounting for 170 accidents that killed 176 people and injured 137 — representing 36.24 percent of total
accidents and 37.52 percent of deaths. Dhaka division reported the highest number of road crashes with 126 incidents, killing 130 and injuring 343, while Mymensingh division recorded the fewest with 20 accidents that left 27 dead and 37 injured.
Among the victims were 50 law enforcement officers, 139 drivers, 119 pedestrians, 27 transport workers, 38 students, 14 teachers, 97 women, 40 children, one lawyer, two journalists, three engineers, and 18 political activists. Of them, 133 were drivers, 99 pedestrians, 58 women, 35 children, 35 students, 14 transport workers, 13 teachers, and 14 political activists.
The BPWA identified 772 vehicles involved in the crashes — 25.90 percent motorcycles, 21.24 percent trucks, pickups, or covered vans, 16.06 percent buses, 12.80 percent battery-operated rickshaws or easy bikes, 4.27 percent CNG-run auto-rickshaws, and 8.41 percent locally modified vehicles such as Nasimon, Karimon, Mahindra, tractors, or lagunas.
Of all road accidents, 49.89 percent involved vehicles running over victims, 25.15 percent were head-on collisions, 19.61 percent occurred when drivers lost control and veered off the road, and 0.63 percent resulted from train-vehicle collisions.
Most crashes occurred on national highways (42.43 percent), followed by regional highways (23.66 percent) and feeder roads (27.29 percent). Dhaka city alone accounted for 4.69 percent of the incidents.
The report cited several reasons for the high number of accidents, including rain-damaged roads full of potholes, unregulated movement of motorcycles, battery-run rickshaws, and CNG auto-rickshaws on highways, lack of road signs and streetlights, absence of road dividers, poor vehicle fitness, reckless driving, and extortion on highways.
To curb the rising trend, the BPWA recommended urgent repairs to damaged highways, improved lighting on major roads, training and certification of drivers, the establishment of service lanes and footpaths, elimination of extortion on roads, and proper enforcement of digital traffic laws.
The organisation also called for stricter control over the import and registration of motorcycles and battery-run rickshaws, which it says are increasingly contributing to fatal crashes.
