Come Sunday, people across the world will remember those who have lost their lives or livelihoods on the roads. It is customary to observe the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on November 16. It is also a day to pause and reflect on how fatal our roads have become, causing thousands of deaths -- a scenario that starkly contrasts with our 21st-century pride in building futuristic road infrastructure and developing modern, sophisticated vehicles.
Globally, 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year, while another 50 million are injured or disabled. Nine out of ten road-crash deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. A full third of the victims are children and young people, making road accidents the leading cause of death in this age group.
The situation is quite grave worldwide -- and certainly more grave in Bangladesh, given the higher incidence of road casualties. If one of our latest official surveys on road fatalities is any indication, the statistics speak for themselves: Road traffic injuries cause 66 deaths a day in Bangladesh, making it the leading cause of injury-related deaths across all age groups in the country.
The Non-Communicable Disease Control unit of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) commissioned a survey conducted by the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh (CIPRB), with technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The cross-sectional national survey, carried out between May 2023 and February 2024, analyzed data from 443,000 participants.
The survey found that road crash fatalities reach as high as 24,233 deaths a year in Bangladesh. The World Health Organization estimates the figure to be even higher -- over 31,000 deaths.
In addition, more than three million people suffer non-fatal injuries in road crashes each year, and 38,028 of them are left permanently disabled -- underscoring the severity of the issue and the urgent need for government intervention.
Clearly, this situation speaks volumes about our unsafe road conditions, unfit vehicles, untrained drivers, and widespread disregard for traffic laws. More importantly, it reminds us not only to remember the victims on this day but also to turn remembrance into action -- and to work toward ensuring that every journey ends safely.
Let us save lives and prevent injuries. What it takes is a firm resolve from all stakeholders -- both state and non-state -- to free our nation from the curse of countless road deaths. The solutions are all within our reach: From improving infrastructure, legislation, and awareness to enforcing safety laws and sharing best practices.
Over the years, Bangladesh’s road conditions have improved significantly, with many national and regional highways undergoing facelifts and expansions to double, four-lane, and even six-lane carriageways. However, there are still glaring examples of inefficiency, inertia, and culpable delays on roads that have long remained in poor condition, contributing to frequent accidents.
Take National Highway 2 (Dhaka-Sylhet) as one glaring example. More than a decade after the road expansion project was conceived, the highway and service road development are still far from completion. Travelers on this route often endure agonizingly long journeys -- what should ideally be a four-hour drive can sometimes take up to 20 hours by bus.
A government adviser who recently visited the area to inspect the progress had to abandon his motorcade and continue on a motorbike along the Brahmanbaria stretch of the highway due to severe traffic congestion and potholes.
Nearly 15 years after the government decided to rid Bangladesh’s roads of unfit buses, minibuses, trucks, and lorries, it has still failed to do so. As a result, more accidents occur daily involving vehicles with rusty wheels, faulty brakes, and broken lights and mirrors that continue to operate on highways and city roads.
Commuters remain at the mercy of a nexus of politically-connected transport owners who routinely ignore government directives to withdraw 20- to 25-year-old rickety buses from service.
Bangladesh now has more public and private transport vehicles than the number of skilled, trained drivers required to operate them -- a major mismatch that remains unresolved. The relevant government departments have also failed to issue driving licenses on time, even to those who qualify.
Many long-route inter-district bus and truck drivers are overworked, forced to drive long hours within a 24-hour cycle -- a recipe for disaster. Many highway crashes are caused either by mechanical faults in unfit vehicles or by overworked drivers struggling to stay awake behind the wheel.
This year, at the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, governments around the world recommitted to cutting road deaths in half by 2030. The UN Road Safety Conventions, the UN Road Safety Fund, and the Special Envoy for Road Safety have already helped many countries save lives through various initiatives. Bangladesh must tap into these global efforts and take every possible measure within its means to save lives -- so that fewer people perish untimely on our roads.
Reaz Ahmad is Editor, Dhaka Tribune.
