Bangladesh recorded another grim month of road tragedies in September, with 446 accidents leaving 417 people dead and 682 injured, according to a report released on Saturday by the Road Safety Foundation(RSF).
The findings, drawn from newspapers, online portals, electronic media and the foundation’s own monitoring, underscore the scale of a public safety emergency. Motorcyclists and pedestrians remain the most vulnerable groups on the roads, the report noted.
Motorcycles alone were involved in 151 accidents that claimed 143 lives, accounting for more than a third of the total fatalities. Pedestrians made up the second largest share, with 112 deaths. The toll also included 63 women, 47 children, 49 students, seven teachers, three journalists and two police personnel. Drivers and their assistants accounted for another 56 deaths.
Highways again proved the most dangerous, with national highways reporting the highest number of accidents at 36 percent, followed by regional roads at 31 percent. Dhaka division saw the largest number of casualties, with 124 deaths in 128 accidents. Chattogram district recorded the highest single-district toll, with 45 deaths from 52 crashes.
The most frequent cause of accidents was vehicles losing control, responsible for nearly 40 percent of incidents. Pedestrians being struck or run over accounted for more than a quarter. Of the 661 vehicles involved in September’s crashes, trucks, covered vans, pickups and tractors made up 25 percent, motorcycles 24 percent and buses 18 percent.
The carnage was not limited to the roads. Seventeen waterway accidents killed 21 people and left six missing, while 29 railway accidents claimed 27 lives and injured 13 others.
The foundation blamed systemic flaws for the recurring disaster—reckless driving, defective vehicles, broken infrastructure and exploitative labour conditions in the transport sector. It said many drivers are overworked and underpaid, often forced to drive long hours without rest, leading to reckless and fatigued behaviour.
To stem the tide of deaths, the group urged the government to take urgent measures: ensure proper training and certification for drivers, fix wages and working hours, expand the capacity of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, and enforce traffic laws strictly for everyone on the roads. It also called for banning slow-moving vehicles from highways with the construction of separate service lanes, building dividers across all major roads, stopping extortion in transport, and reforming rail and river services to ease pressure on highways.
The report stressed that without the immediate and full implementation of the Road Transport Act 2018 and the adoption of a long-term sustainable transport policy, the death toll will continue to climb.
