At least 481 people were killed and 664 injured in road accidents across Bangladesh in August, according to a report by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF).
Of the deceased, 61 were women, and 58 were children, the report said.
It said 183 motorcycle accidents claimed 176 lives, accounting for 36.59% of the total deaths and 35.67% of all road crashes during the month.
The RSF prepared the report based on information published in nine national dailies, 17 national and regional online news portals, electronic media and its own sources.
According to the report, 163 accidents, or 31.77%, occurred on national highways, while 217 (42.30%) took place on regional roads, 62 (12.08%) on rural roads and 71 (13.84%) on city roads.
The report said trucks, covered vans, pickups, tractors, trolleys, lorries, dump trucks, oil tankers and 14-wheel lorries were involved in 28.57% of the accidents. Motorcycles were involved in 25.90%, passenger buses in 13.75% and three-wheelers in 14.95%.
Among the fatalities, motorcycle riders accounted for the highest share at 176, followed by three-wheeler passengers at 78, occupants of trucks and similar heavy vehicles at 51, and bus passengers at 37.
The report also showed that 21 people travelling in locally made vehicles such as Nasimon, Bhatbhati and Mahindra were killed, while five rickshaw and bicycle riders died.
In August, seven waterway accidents left six people dead and nine injured, while 34 railway track accidents killed 27 people and injured 23.
Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of road crashes, with 172 incidents leaving 144 people dead. Barisal Division recorded the lowest number, with 15 accidents and 14 deaths.
Among individual districts, Bogura recorded the highest number of deaths, with 37.
In Dhaka city, 48 road accidents claimed 23 lives and injured 54 people.
The report said 61 students were among those killed.
The deceased also included 27 political activists, 24 local-level businesspeople, 21 sales representatives of medicines and other products, 19 NGO workers, 13 day labourers, 12 bank and insurance employees, 11 teachers, seven garment workers, four journalists, four mosque imams or khadems, three doctors, three air force members, three motor mechanics, two army personnel, two engineers and one police member.
The RSF observed that the average daily death toll from road crashes rose to 15.51 in August from 13.41 in July, representing a 15.65% increase in fatalities.
It attributed most accidents to excessive speed and loss of control by vehicles, stressing the need for technology-based speed monitoring and motivational training for drivers.
The organisation also said reckless driving and pedestrian negligence were contributing to the rising number of pedestrian deaths.
It identified faulty vehicles and roads, reckless driving, unskilled or physically and mentally unfit drivers, undefined wages and working hours, the movement of slow-moving vehicles on highways, reckless motorcycle riding by young people, ignorance of and disregard for traffic laws, weak traffic management, capacity constraints at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and extortion in the public transport sector as major causes of road crashes.
The RSF recommended restructuring the National Road Safety Council and bringing the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) and Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) under its supervision.
It also called for structural and management reforms in the transport agencies, mandatory use of modern vehicle safety technologies, removal of expired vehicles from roads, introduction of modern company-based bus services in Dhaka through route rationalisation, expansion of BRTC services, better training and welfare for professional drivers, and safer road designs with service lanes for slow-moving vehicles.
The organisation further recommended appointing gatekeepers at all railway crossings, allocating funds in the national budget for road safety awareness, enhancing road-safety expertise among administration cadre officials and integrating road, rail and waterways under a unified transport ministry.
