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About half of the accidents involve motorcycles and three-wheelers, a report says
Published : 04 Jan 2025, 01:02 PM
A total of 8,543 people have been killed and 12,608 injured in 6,359 road accidents last year, according to Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh, or PWAB.
Despite the changeover in government, the lack of structural change in the transport sector has meant that it is not possible to limit the number of accidents on the roads, the PWAB secretary general said on Saturday morning at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity Auditorium in Shegun Bagicha in the capital.
He said, “Despite the change in government, there has been no structural change in the transport sector. The only change is in the hands that collect extortion. Unfit vehicles are plying the roads, the law is being misused, the BRTA [Bangladesh Road Transport Association] is busy collecting revenue, the traffic department is competing to collect fines, and all the ingredients for accidents are still laid out on the roads.”
“In such a situation, it is not possible to control road accidents only through meetings, speeches, statements and advertisements in newspapers.”
Another 512 people were killed and 315 were injured in 497 railway accidents; 182 people were killed, 267 were injured and 155 went missing in 118 river accident.
Mozammel noted that 2,570 people were killed and 3,151 were injured in 2,329 motorcycle accidents, which accounts for 36.62 percent of the total accidents, 30.08 percent of the deaths and 24.99 percent of the injuries.
Combining the road, rail, and river transport figures, the accident monitoring report by PWAB found that 9,237 people were killed and 13,190 injured in a total of 6,974 accidents over the period.
Stating that half of the accidents were caused by motorcycles and three-wheelers, Mozammel said that a total of 9,717 vehicles were involved in the accidents last year of which 13.45 percent were buses; 23.33 percent were trucks, pickups, covered vans, and lorries; 6.21 percent were cars, jeeps, and microbuses; 5.57 percent were CNG-powered autorickshaws; 27.48 percent were motorcycles; 16.56 percent were battery-powered rickshaws and easy bikes; and 7.37 percent were other three-wheelers and tractors.
Though motorcycle and battery-powered autorickshaw accidents have increased dramatically, the real picture cannot be portrayed because these news stories are rarely reported in the media, he said.
The PWAB put forward 13 recommendations to prevent road accidents in the future:
1. The government should give its first priority to road safety
2. Enact a road safety law quickly and start comprehensively enforcing it
3. Increase the budget allocation for road safety and launch a road safety wing in the road transport ministry
4. Start various activities to implement all the recommendations already made on road safety
5. Install road signs, road markings, and traffic signs on the country's roads and highways. Arrange for zebra crossings and lighting to reduce the risk of accidents
6. Provide state-of-the-art training and moral education for drivers of public transport
7. Establish good governance in the road transport sector. Stop irregularities, corruption and extortion on the roads
8. Modernise the vehicle registration, fitness and driver licensing system in line with the developed world
9. Extend the application period for the financial assistance funds in road accidents by six months
10. Take initiatives to launch new bus services of adequate quality nationwide to build a smart public transport system
11. Establish a traffic training academy for training traffic police officers and personnel
12. Install reversing lights on the medians of the road and make the road dividers on the highway sufficiently high to prevent pedestrian crossings
13. Ensure the representation of passengers and victims along with the owners and workers in decision-making, including determining the fares on public transport and limiting road accidents
