At least 546 people were killed and 1,204 injured in 552 road accidents across the country in January, according to a monitoring report by the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity.
The figures were disclosed in a press release signed by the organization’s Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury on Sunday.
The report, prepared through monitoring of accident reports published in national, regional and online media outlets, also documented 37 railway accidents that left 33 people dead and 28 injured during the month.
On waterways, eight accidents claimed seven lives, injured six people and left three missing.
In total, 597 accidents across road, rail and waterways resulted in 586 deaths and 1,238 injuries in January.
Motorcycle crashes a major concern
Motorcycle accidents accounted for a significant share of the fatalities. Of the 552 road crashes, 209 involved motorcycles, killing 223 people and injuring 132.
Motorcycle crashes made up 37.86% of total road accidents, 40.84% of fatalities and 10.96% of injuries.
Dhaka sees highest number of crashes
Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of road accidents, with 132 crashes resulting in 133 deaths and 328 injuries.
Sylhet Division recorded the lowest, with 29 accidents that killed 28 people and injured 63.
Victim profile
Among those affected in road accidents were 15 members of law enforcement agencies, 131 drivers, 89 pedestrians, 53 transport workers, 79 students, nine teachers, 62 women, 67 children, four physicians, four journalists, one freedom fighter and 11 political activists.
Those killed included two police personnel, two army members, one navy member, four physicians, one freedom fighter, 127 drivers, 89 pedestrians, 54 women, 48 children, 57 students, 21 transport workers, eight teachers and 11 political activists.
Vehicles and causes
A total of 829 vehicles were identified as being involved in road accidents in January. Of these, 28.46% were motorcycles, 23.64% trucks, pickups, covered vans and lorries, and 14.35% buses.
Battery-run rickshaws and easy bikes accounted for 13.63%, CNG-run auto-rickshaws 5.54%, locally assembled vehicles such as Nasimon, Karimon, Mahindra, tractors and legunas 9.04%, and cars, jeeps and microbuses 5.30%.
Nearly half (48.36%) of the accidents involved vehicles running over pedestrians, while 28.62% were head-on collisions. Vehicles losing control and falling into ditches accounted for 16.84% of incidents, with the remaining cases attributed to various other causes, including train-vehicle collisions and incidents involving scarves getting entangled in wheels.
In terms of location, 42.57% of accidents occurred on national highways, 27.89% on regional highways and 24.09% on feeder roads. Additionally, 4.52% took place within Dhaka metropolitan area, 0.54% in Chittagong metropolitan area and 0.36% at railway crossings.
The organization identified policy and strategic weaknesses in the road transport sector, unregulated movement of battery-run auto-rickshaws and motorcycles on highways, lack of road signs and markings, absence of medians, construction flaws, unfit vehicles, reckless driving and driver fatigue among the key causes behind the accidents.
To prevent road crashes, it recommended adopting improved transport policies, ensuring skilled driver training, introducing digital vehicle fitness certification, enforcing traffic laws through CCTV-based prosecution, developing service lanes and footpaths on highways, strengthening regulatory bodies and conducting regular road safety audits.
It also called for scrapping expired and unfit vehicles, regulating motorcycle and battery-run rickshaw imports and registration, and forming a high-level expert taskforce to reform the transport sector.
