A year of daily danger on Dhaka’s streets left many people dead and hundreds injured in 2025, exposing deep and persistent failures in the city’s transport system.
Dhaka recorded 409 road accidents in 2025, leaving 219 people dead and 511 injured, according to the Road Safety Foundation.
In a press release, on Wednesday, the foundation said its report titled Dhaka Road Safety Audit 2025: Analysis and Recommendations shows that 80.36 per cent of the victims were male, including 176 men, alongside 25 women and 18 children.
The audit identified Jatrabari, Demra, Mohammadpur, Kuril Bishwa Road and Airport Road as the city’s major accident hotspots.
The data also showed that pedestrians accounted for 47.03 per cent of the fatalities, followed by motorcycle riders and passengers at 43.37 per cent, while drivers and passengers of buses, rickshaws and CNG-run vehicles made up the remaining 9.58 per cent.
Night-time emerged as the most dangerous period, with 41.56 per cent of accidents occurring at night, followed by morning at 18.33 per cent, late afternoon at 13.44 per cent, dawn at 11.24 per cent, midday at 9.53 per cent and evening at 5.86 per cent.
In terms of vehicle involvement, heavy vehicles including trucks, covered vans, pickups, tankers and refuse lorries were involved in 35.14 per cent of incidents, followed by buses at 24.87 per cent, motorcycles at 21.53 per cent, three-wheelers at 11.82 per cent, private cars, microbuses and jeeps at 4.12 per cent, and rickshaws at 2.48 per cent.
The foundation attributed the surge in accidents and traffic congestion to severe mismanagement of the transport system, particularly the absence of bypass roads.
It said the lack of bypasses forces heavy goods vehicles to pass through the city at high speeds between 10pm and 6am, resulting in a high number of pedestrian casualties.
The report also said traffic-induced stress fuels impatience and aggressive driving, further increasing the risk of collisions.
Other contributing factors include expired and defective vehicles, an inadequate road network, mixed-speed traffic using the same lanes, pavements occupied by hawkers, poorly located or unusable foot-over bridges, lack of proper road markings and signage, low road safety awareness, and extortion in the transport sector.
To reduce risks, the foundation recommended introducing modern, company-based bus services through route rationalisation and withdrawing expired vehicles.
It also urged the authorities to implement dedicated bus lanes, mandate school bus services for educational institutions, and construct multi-storey hydraulic parking stations.
The report further called for stronger coordination among the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, Traffic Police and city corporations, alongside keeping pavements clear, building overpasses or underpasses at railway crossings, and eliminating extortion in public transport to ensure safer commuting.
