Road crashes kill over 7,000 students since 2019

Road crashes killed 7,364 students across Bangladesh between 2019 and June 2026, according to an analysis by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF).

Motorcycle riders and passengers accounted for 52.15 percent of the deaths, the organisation said in a statement yesterday.

College and university students made up more than half of the victims, while motorcycle crashes emerged as the leading cause of student fatalities.

The student deaths represented 15.11 percent of the 48,713 people killed in road crashes during the period.

Among the victims, 3,328 were school and madrasa students aged between five and 17, while 4,036 were college and university students aged between 18 and 25.

Road crashes also killed 1,923 students while they were walking, 927 while travelling as vehicle passengers and 519 while riding bicycles or rickshaws. Another 154 students died after scarves or other clothing became entangled in the wheels of auto-rickshaws.

Regional roads recorded the highest number of student deaths at 2,149, followed by rural roads with 1,947, urban roads with 1,786 and highways with 1,482.

Auto-rickshaws, motorcycles and goods vehicles frequently struck children aged five to 12 while they travelled to school or played near their homes, particularly on rural roads.

Students aged 13 to 25 faced a higher risk of dying as motorcycle riders or passengers on regional roads and highways.

The RSF blamed poor road conditions, unsafe vehicles, reckless motorcycle riding, weak enforcement of traffic laws and a lack of discipline in the transport sector for the deaths.

It urged the authorities to introduce stronger road-safety education, create safer school zones, ensure vehicle fitness and strictly enforce laws against underage motorcycle riding.