57 children among 487 killed in January road crashes in Bangladesh: RSF

At least 57 children among 487 people were killed in 559 road accidents across Bangladesh in January this year, according to a report released by the Road Safety Foundation.

The crashes also left 1,194 people injured during the month.

Among the deceased were 68 women, the report said. UNB News

Motorcycle crashes accounted for a significant share of the deaths, with 196 people killed in 208 incidents, representing 40.24 percent of the total fatalities and 37.20 percent of all accidents.

Pedestrians made up 27.10 percent of the deaths, with 132 people killed, while 67 drivers and helpers died, accounting for 13.75 percent.

During the same period, four waterway accidents killed six people and injured seven others, while 41 railway track accidents left 32 dead and 17 injured.

The report was prepared based on information from nine national dailies, seven online news portals, electronic media reports and the foundation’s own data.

Motorcycle riders and passengers were the worst affected, followed by passengers of three-wheelers such as easy bikes, CNG-run auto-rickshaws and auto-vans, who accounted for 77 deaths or 15.81 percent.

Bus passengers died in 21 cases, while 28 deaths involved truck, covered van, pickup and tractor occupants.

Nine people were killed in private car, microbus, ambulance and jeep crashes, and 13 died while travelling in locally made vehicles such as nosimon and votvoti.

Besides, 11 cyclists were also killed.

Road type and accident pattern

The analysis showed that 27.90 percent of the crashes occurred on national highways, 37.03 percent on regional roads, 15.20 percent on rural roads and 18.42 percent on city streets.

The remaining  accidents took place in other locations.

In terms of accident type, 37.38 percent were caused by loss of control, 24.15 percent by head-on collisions, 24.50 percent by vehicles hitting pedestrians and 12.88 percent by rear-end collisions.

Heavy vehicles, including trucks, covered vans and tankers, were involved in 28.58 percent of the crashes, followed by motorcycles at 24.51 percent and three-wheelers at 18.53 percent.

Passenger buses accounted for 12.20 percent of the incidents.

Division-wise data showed Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of accidents and fatalities, with 143 crashes killing 119 people.

Sylhet Division had the lowest toll, with 18 deaths from 24 accidents.

In the capital Dhaka, 26 accidents killed 18 people and injured 41 others.

Based on media reports, the victims included police members, teachers, doctors, journalists, lawyers, bank and insurance employees, NGO workers, political activists, businesspeople, sales representatives, garment and construction workers, people with disabilities and 57 students.

The foundation identified defective vehicles and roads, overspeeding, reckless and unfit driving, lack of fixed wages and working hours for drivers, slow-moving vehicles on highways, risky motorcycle riding by youths, poor knowledge and enforcement of traffic laws, weak traffic management, capacity constraints at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, and extortion in the public transport sector as the main causes of road accidents.