A total of 510 people were killed and 1,268 injured in 527 road accidents across the country in April, according to media-based monitoring data. The findings were released by the Road Safety Monitoring Cell of the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity.
The report said 54 railway accidents killed 49 people and injured 11 in the same month. Five waterway accidents also left four people dead.
Overall, 586 accidents in road, rail and waterways killed 563 people and injured 1,279.
It further said 139 motorcycle crashes alone killed 142 people and injured 124. These accounted for 26.37 percent of total accidents, 27.84 percent of deaths and 9.77 percent of injuries.
Region-wise data showed the highest number of road accidents occurred in Chattogram division, with 135 accidents killing 137 people and injuring 263. The lowest was recorded in Mymensingh division, with 17 accidents killing 18 people and injuring 64.
The Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity said the data was collected through media monitoring, adding that the actual number of casualties could be significantly higher as many incidents are not reported in newspapers.
In a statement signed on Wednesday by the organisation’s Secretary General Md Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, the report said an urgent overhaul of the transport sector management system is needed.
He said replacing bureaucratic control with transport experts, both local and foreign, could help restore discipline, reduce passenger suffering and stop the rising death toll. He urged the new government to move away from the existing transport management system.
The report identified 805 vehicles involved in accidents. It said 21.86 percent were motorcycles, 26.45 percent trucks, pickups, covered vans and lorries, 14.28 percent buses, 15.27 percent battery-powered rickshaws and easy-bikes, 6.95 percent CNG-run auto-rickshaws, 8.57 percent nosimon–karimon–mahindra–tractors and lagunas, and 6.58 percent cars, jeeps and microbuses.
It added that 28.08 percent of crashes involved being run over or hit, 41.17 percent were head-on collisions, 23.71 percent involved vehicles losing control and falling into ditches, 5.88 percent were due to miscellaneous causes, 0.56 percent involved garments getting caught in wheels, and 0.56 percent involved train-vehicle collisions.
Road type analysis showed 38.51 percent of accidents occurred on national highways, 31.49 percent on regional highways, and 22.96 percent on feeder roads. In urban areas, 5.69 percent occurred in Dhaka city, 0.75 percent in Chattogram city, and 0.56 percent at railway crossings.
The organisation identified several key causes of road accidents in April, including uncontrolled movement of motorcycles and battery-run vehicles, lack of road signs and lighting, absence of divider systems, poor road design, vehicles driving in the wrong direction, extortion, carrying passengers in cargo vehicles, unskilled drivers, unfit vehicles, overloading, reckless driving and long driving hours without rest.
It also made a set of recommendations, including increased use of technology in transport, smart fare collection, stopping import and registration of motorcycles and battery-run rickshaws, improving road lighting, ensuring skilled driver training, enforcing digital fitness certification, and implementing a mandatory 60-hour driving training requirement before issuing licences.
Other recommendations included stopping monopolistic control in the transport sector, introducing service lanes on major highways, ending extortion, ensuring proper wages and working hours for drivers, providing pedestrian crossings and road markings, building modern bus networks, strengthening BRTA capacity, ensuring quality road construction and maintenance, regular road safety audits, and establishing a dedicated road accident research unit under the ministry.
