A total of 1,384 people were killed and 2,488 others injured in 1,849 road crashes across the capital between January 2020 and July 2026, according to data released by the Road Safety Foundation on Saturday.
The analysis found that 1,034 of those killed were men (74.71%), 219 were women (15.82%), and 131 were children (9.46%).
Year-wise data showed that 126 people were killed and 233 injured in 124 crashes in 2020. The figures rose to 141 deaths and 247 injuries in 137 crashes in 2021, followed by 256 deaths and 324 injuries in 268 crashes in 2022.
In 2023, 249 people were killed and 335 injured in 296 crashes. The following year, 246 people died and 482 were injured in 394 crashes. In 2025, 229 people were killed and 511 injured in 407 crashes. Up to July 2026, 137 people had been killed and 356 injured in 223 crashes.
Of those killed, 592 (42.77%) were pedestrians, 536 (38.72%) were motorcyclists, and 256 (18.49%) were drivers or passengers of buses, rickshaws, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, and other vehicles.
Most fatalities occurred at night, accounting for 519 deaths (37.5%). The remaining deaths were recorded in the morning (258), afternoon (195), evening (174), early morning (142), and at dusk (96).
Heavy vehicles—including trucks, covered vans, pickups, tankers, and garbage trucks—were involved in the highest proportion of crashes (33.25%), followed by motorcycles (26%), buses (21.75%), auto-rickshaws, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, and legunas (12.73%), and microbuses, private cars, and jeeps (6.25%).
The Road Safety Foundation said road crashes occur more frequently at night and in the morning in the capital. It attributed the trend to heavy goods vehicles traveling at high speeds during nighttime due to the absence of bypass roads, exposing pedestrians to greater risk while crossing roads.
The organization also blamed chronic traffic congestion, inadequate road infrastructure, mixed traffic, encroached footpaths, a shortage of usable footbridges, and poor road-user awareness for the high number of crashes and fatalities.
It identified Jatrabari, Demra, Mohammadpur, Kuril World Road, and Airport Road as major crash hotspots.
The foundation recommended introducing company-based bus services through route rationalization to improve discipline in Dhaka's public transport system. It also called for coordinated action by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), the two city corporations, and the traffic police.
