staff correspondent:
In May, 562 people were killed and 549 injured in 441 road accidents across the country. Among the deceased 83 were women and 66 were children. A total of 217 people died in 228 motorcycle accidents which are 38.61 percent of the total fatality and motorcycle accident rate is 51.70 percent. 147 pedestrian were killed in the accidents which is 26.15 percent while 86 drivers and assistants of the vehicles were killed which is 15.30 percent of the total deaths.
Around 34 people were killed, 16 injured in 8 waterway accidents while 4 people killed and 1 injured in 5 railway tracks accidents in the same month. Besides, 6 people died and 31others injured in two incidents of getting down from ferry with crowd and hustle at Shimulia-Banglabazar ghat on home going journey on Eid-ul fitr.
Road Safety Foundation prepared the report based on information from seven national dailies, five online news portals and some electronics media.
Statistics of vehicle-based casualties:
The statistics of vehicle based death toll is seen- of the deceased, 217 (38.61%) were motorcyclists and pillion riders, 9 (1.60%) were bus passengers 37 (6.58.%) were passengers of truck-pickup vans-tractors-trolleys, 32 (5.69%) were microbus-private car-ambulance passengers, 78 (13.87%) were three-wheeler vehicles like CNG run auto-rickshaw, easy bike and tempo passengers, 34 (6.04%) were locally made vehicle like Nosimon, Votvoti, Mahindra passengers and 8 (1.42%) were bicyclist, paddle rickshaw passengers.
Type of road:
The observation and analysis of the Road Safety Foundation says, of the total accidents, 179 (40.58%) accidents occurred on national highways followed by 158 (35.82%) on regional roads, 63 (14.28%) on rural roads, 35 (7.93%) on urban roads and 6 (1.36%) at other places.
Type of the accidents:
Of the accidents, 71 (16.09%) occurred due to head on collision, 169 (38.32%) lost control, 148 (33.56%) hit pedestrian, 44 (9.57%) rear end and 9 (2.04%) were due to other reasons.
Vehicles involved in the accidents:
Among the vehicles involved in the accident- trucks-covered vans, pickup vans were 26.07 percent followed by tractors-trolleys 3.25 percent, microbuses-cars-ambulances-jeeps 7.95 percent, buses 5.08 percent, motorcycles 30.63 percent, three-wheeler vehicles (like CNG run auto-rickshaw, easy bike tampo) 18.38 percent, locally made vehicles (like Nasimons, Votvotis, Alamsadhus, Mahindras) 6.51 and bicycles, paddle rickshaws- vans 2.08 percent.
Number of vehicles involved in the accidents:
767 vehicles were involved in the accidents. Those are- trucks 138, buses 39, covered vans 20, pickup vans 42, trolleys 9, tractors 15, microbuses 33, cars 22, ambulances 4, jeep 1, pickup of RAB 1, wrecker 1, motorcycles 235, tree-wheeler 141, locally made vehicle 50 and bicycles, paddle rickshaws 16.
Time analysis of the accidents:
Time analysis shows that, 31.51 percent of the accidents took place in the morning, 18.59 percent at noon, 21.08 percent in the afternoon, 7.93 percent in the evening, 15.41 percent at night and 5.44 at dawn.
Division-wise statistics of the accidents:
In division-wise statistics, 26.07 percent accident with 25.62 per cent fatality occurred in Dhaka division while 16.55 percent accident with 16.19 percent fatality took place in Rajshahi division, 16.09 percent accident with 17.43 percent fatality in Chattogram, 7.93 percent accident with 7.82 percent fatality in Khulna, 9.07 percent accident with 9.60 percent fatality in Barishal, 8.61 percent accident with 9.96 percent fatality in Sylhet, 9.75 percent accident with 8.54 percent fatality in Rangpur and 5.89 percent accident with 4.80 percent fatality in Mymensingh divisions.
According to division-wise breakup, Dhaka division saw maximum number of accidents while Mymensingh witnessed the minimum accidents. A total of 144 people died in 115 accidents in Dhaka and 27 were died in 26 accidents in Mymensingh division.
District-wise statistics showed, the highest number of accidents took place in Chattogram district with the highest number of casualties. 41 people died in 32 accidents in this district. The lowest number was in Panchagarh district. There were 3 accidents but no casualties.
Reasons behind the road accidents:
1. Unfit vehicles
2. Reckless driving
3. Drivers’ incompetence and their physical and mental sickness
4. Unsettled wages and working hours
5. Plying of low-speed vehicles on highways
6. Reckless driving of motorcycles by youth
7. Lack of knowledge on traffic rules among people
8. The tendency of violating traffic rules & regulations among road users
8. Poor traffic management
9. Lack of efficiency and capacity of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority
10. Extortion in the public transport sector.
Recommendations:
1. Need to create skilled drivers
2. The wages and working hours of public transport workers need to be settled
3. The capacity of BRTA needs to be enhanced
4. Ensure uninterrupted application of traffic rules to everyone
5. Low-speed vehicles should be banned on the highways and constructed service road for these
6. Road dividers must be constructed on all road and highways
7. Extortion in the public transport sector must be stopped
8. Rail and waterways transportation need to be upgraded
9. Sustainable transportation policy needs to be formulated and implemented
10. Road Transport Act 2018 should be implemented properly
Comments:
Last April, 452 people were killed in 397 accidents. On an average, 15.06 people were killed every day. In May, an average of 18.12 people killed every day. The death rate increased by 20.31 percent compared with the month of April.
And the fatality rate in motorcycle accidents increased by 33.07 percent as compared to last April. A total of 451 active people aged between 18 and 65 were killed in the accidents which is 80.24 percent.
