Road accidents claim 418 lives in July

Motorcycles were involved in the highest number of accidents, and were also the vehicle that resulted in the most deaths, a report says

As many as 418 people have died in 443 road accidents across Bangladesh in July, while 856 individuals suffered injuries.

Motorcycles were involved in the highest number of accidents -- 131 – and also saw the highest number of deaths at 109.

The Road Safety Foundation released the figures in a press release on Tuesday.

The report was compiled based on data from nine national daily newspapers, seven online news portals, television reports, and its own sources, the organisation said.

According to the foundation, motorcycles were involved in 29.57 percent of the total road accidents in July and accounted for 26.08 percent of deaths.

During this period, 92 pedestrians were killed, making up 22 percent of the total deaths.

A total of 56 drivers and their assistants were killed -- 13.4 percent of deaths.

The Road Safety Foundation noted that 203 accidents, or 44.82 percent, occurred on national highways, 149 on regional roads, 48 on rural roads, 37 on urban roads, and six at other locations.

Of the July crashes, 81 were head-on collisions, 216 occurred due to loss of control, 94 involved pedestrians being run over, 44 were rear-end collisions, and eight happened for other reasons.

Altogether, 609 vehicles were involved in these accidents, including 131 motorcycles, 114 buses, 108 trucks, 12 covered vans, 29 pickups, seven tractors, 13 trailers, and nine dump trucks.

Regionally, the Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of accidents with 26.41 percent, followed by the Chattogram Division with 21.67 percent, the Rajshahi Division with 11.73 percent, the Khulna Division with 9.93 percent, the Rangpur Division with 9.70 percent, the Sylhet Division with 6.77 percent, the Barishal Division with 6.54 percent, and the Mymensingh Division with 7.22 percent.

The foundation identified faulty vehicles, damaged roads, reckless speeding, drivers mindsets, lack of skill, physical and mental illness, slow-moving vehicles on highways, and reckless motorcycle driving by young people as the main causes for these accidents.