Almost 15 people, on average, lost their lives daily in February in tragic road accidents.
A total of 427 people, including 56 women and 58 children, died in 372 road accidents in this month, according to data prepared by the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways.
Their data also shows that 1,094 people sustained injuries, an average of 46 people a day, in these accidents.
This data, prepared by the committee on the basis of news reports published in 20 national daily newspapers, 10 regional newspapers and eight online news portals, was released on Wednesday.
In January, 416 people died and 1,012 people were injured in 350 road accidents, their data further shows.
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According to the committee's general secretary Ashish Kumer Dey, the committee has identified a number of reasons behind the deaths and injuries. These include competitive attitudes among highway bus drivers to reach their destinations early, inefficiency and carelessness of drivers, lack of rest while driving for a long time, lack of training and awareness among drivers and assistants, and a tendency to not follow traffic rules while overtaking, among other reasons.
He said lack of seriousness among regulatory and monitoring agencies of the road transport sector also plays a role.
The lack of strict punishment for drivers, their assistants, and the owners of the vehicles involved is responsible as well for this alarming state, he added.
Recently, a Manikganj court on February 22 sentenced Jamir, a bus driver, to life imprisonment in a landmark verdict, which is the highest punishment for any road accident in the country that occurs mostly due to recklessness of the driver.
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Jamir’s life sentence was for the deaths of five people, including filmmaker Tareque Masud and cinematographer and journalist Mishuk Munier, in a road crash in 2011. Meanwhile, truck driver Mir Hossain Miru was handed the death sentence following the death of a woman in a road accident in Savar, Dhaka in 2003.
Following the verdict, transport workers observed an indefinite transport strike in 10 districts of Khulna division demanding Jamir’s release.
On Monday, a transport strike was announced by the pro-government Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation (BRTWF), which caused travellers immense suffering. The strike was withdrawn on Wednesday.