At least 1,026 people lost their lives across Bangladesh in 1,011 motorcycle accidents from January to October this year.
Moreover, as many as 417 others were injured in the accidents involving 1,076 motorcycles over the same period, revealed a report of the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) on Thursday.
According to the findings -- of all the deceased -- 724 were aged between 15-40, 308 were students and 37 were teachers.
Also, a total of 124 pedestrians died after being hit or run over by motorcycles, accounting for 12.8% of the tally.
This report was prepared based on information collected from seven national dailies, five online news portals, and electronic media outlets covering the last 10 months.
As many as 378 accidents -- 37.38% -- occurred due to the riders losing control of their vehicles, meaning that the motorcyclists were solely responsible for the crash.
Meanwhile, a total of 353 accidents -- 34.91% -- took place owing to being hit or run over from behind by other vehicles, with 165 more accidents -- 15.43% -- resulting from head-on collisions.
Buses were responsible for as many as 123 accidents -- 12.16%; trucks for 304 accidents -- 30.06%; covered-vans, pick-up vans, tractors, lorries, trolleys for 79 accidents -- 7.81%, three-wheelers and human haulers for 57 accidents -- 5.63%, and bicycles for five accidents -- 0.49%.
The reports stated that 398 -- 39.36% (lion’s share) -- of these accidents occurred on the country’s national highways, 369 -- 36.49% on regional roads, 128 -- 12.66% -- on rural roads, and 116 -- 11.47 -- on urban roads.
Afternoons turned out to be the most fatal time for motorcyclists with their pillions. 29.37% accidents took place during that period while 25.02%, 20.17%, 10.04%, and 15.33% accidents were reported during the morning, noon, evening, and night times respectively.
Factors behind the accidents
Careless motorcycle riding by the young people, unchecked purchase and use of high speed motorcycles, rampant violation and ignorance of the traffic rules, weak traffic system, slack monitoring by the authorities concerned, over-speeding of other light and heavy vehicles are among the major reasons for the accidents.
Lack of training and patience among drivers, absence and lack of road dividers and road safety campaigns, political patronization of those responsible for accidents too contributed to these accidents, added the report.
Recommendations
The road safety organization placed a set of recommendations including stern action against reckless riding by the young people, a ban on manufacturing, marketing, sale, and use of high-speed motorcycles, and measures to train drivers and motorcyclists.
Also, fixing the salary and working hours of mass transport workers, capacity building of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), smooth and proper implementation of traffic rules, and facilitating dedicated lanes for motorcycles on highways were also recommended by RSF to reduce the number of motorcycle accidents in Bangladesh.
The organization suggested that low-speed local vehicles be banned on highways, and opined for constructing “service road” alongside highways instead.
Road dividers have to be installed on all highways gradually, mass transport services must be improved to discourage motorcycling, and railways and river transportations have to be upgraded so they help reduce pressure on the highways, the foundation added.
Creating mass awareness on road usage alongside fully enforcing the Road Transport Act 2018 was also advised by RSF for safer roads.