Rising road mishaps claim 575 lives in Oct
Staff Reporter :
Despite the increasing rate of road accidents claiming lives and maiming people for life, the issue continues to persist without receiving adequate attention from the concerned authorities.
According to the statistics of Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh on Saturday, in the outgoing month of October, there were 534 accidents in road, rail, and water transport, resulting in 575 fatalities and 875 injuries.
A total of 452 road accidents alone resulted in 475 deaths and 815 injuries while there were 63 railway accidents, causing 76 deaths and 24 injuries.
Additionally, there were 19 waterway accidents that led to 24 deaths, 36 injuries, and nine people going missing. Among the accidents, 138 motorcycle accidents accounted for 163 deaths and 239 injuries, representing 30.53% of all accidents, 34.31% of deaths, and 29.32% of injuries.
On Saturday, October 23, the Association issued a press release signed by its Secretary-General, Mohammad Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, presenting the findings.
The report was compiled by the Accident Monitoring Cell, which tracks accident news from widely circulated and trusted national, regional, online, and electronic news outlets.
Among the victims of road accidents, the identities of 17 law enforcement members, 149 drivers, 137 pedestrians, 51 transport workers, 73 students, 18 teachers, 76 women, 62 children, five doctors, nine journalists, and 13 political party members were ascertained.
The breakdown of fatalities included six police officers, three army personnel, one Ansar member, 124 drivers from various transport sectors, 117 pedestrians, 58 women, 51 children, 49 students, 32 transport workers, 15 teachers, four doctors, six journalists, and 16 political party members.
The report also identified 631 vehicles involved in accidents during this period, including 24.41% motorcycles, 22.50% trucks, pickups, covered vans, and lorries, 18.54% buses, 17.91% battery-powered rickshaws and e-bikes, 3.96% CNG-powered auto-rickshaws, 6.65% vehicles like Nasimons, Karimons, Mahindra tractors, and legunas, and 6.02% cars, jeeps, and microbuses.
In terms of accident types, the report showed that 49.48% of incidents were caused by vehicles running over pedestrians, 25.25% by head-on collisions, 14.77% by loss of control leading to vehicles falling into ditches, 9.51% by other causes, 0.25% by collisions with trains, and 0.75% due to scarf caught in wheels.
Regarding the locations of these accidents, 38.29% occurred on national highways, 30.39% on regional highways, and 24.62% on feeder roads. Additionally, 4.56% of accidents took place in Dhaka city, 1.86% in Chattogram city, and 0.25% at railway crossings.
The Association finds that there is a noticeable lack of attention and proactive measures to address the root causes of these accidents.
The absence of traffic and highway police allowed vehicles to operate without restriction, leading to violations of traffic laws, it said, stating that the lack of road signs, markings, and street lights on national highways, combined with large potholes caused by heavy rains, increased risks to vehicles are also responsible for the accidents.
It also finds that faulty road construction, unfit vehicles, and violations of traffic laws were contributing factors while inexperienced drivers, driving against traffic, extortion on roads, and passenger transport by cargo vehicles are responsible for the accidents.
In a bid to reduce accidents, the Association recommended for temporary cessation of motorcycle and Easybike imports and registrations, arrangement of lighting facilities for uninterrupted movement at night on national and regional highways, initiative to create skilled drivers, provision of fitness for vehicles in digital methods and separate lanes for slow and fast vehicles.
It has also recommended scarping unfit vehicles for public transportation and phased-out vehicles, ensuring quality road construction and maintenance, regular road safety audits.
