Road crashes kill 487, injure 712 in Feb

In February this year, 439 road crashes killed 487 people and injured 712 across the country, according to a report of the Road Safety Foundation released on Wednesday. 

The number of road accidents in the country has been rising for the last few years due to not implementing the traffic laws, among other reasons, said stakeholders.
 
Other causes of accidents include vehicles violating speed limits, incompetent drivers, unfixed salaries and working hours of drivers, low speed vehicles on highways, youths driving motorcycle recklessly, physical and mental illness of drivers, lack of awareness and disobedience of traffic laws, weak traffic management, institutional weakness, extortion and faulty vehicles, said activists waging campaigns to improve road safety.
 
The report also said 196 people died in 183 motorcycle accidents in that month, which accounts for 40.24% of the total deaths.
 
The picture was grimmer in January this year when 593 road crashes killed 585 people and injured 899, according to a report published by Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association (BPWA) last month. Among them, 205 were killed and 114 injured in 214 motorcycle accidents.
 
According to the report, the number of accidents increased by 5.3% in January 2023 compared to the previous year. Fatalities caused by the accidents decreased by around 4% but injuries increased by 10% in that month.
 
According to RSF's annual accident report, the number of accidents has increased every year from 2019 to 2022 .
 
The number of accidents increased by 0.89% in 2020 compared to the previous year, 13.43% in 2021, and 27.14% in 2022. Deaths and injuries also increased at a proportional rate.
 
The report said 5,211 people were killed and 7,103 were injured in 4,693 road accidents in 2019. In the following year 5,431 people were killed and 7,379 injured in 4,735 road crashes. In 2021, 6,284 people were killed and 7,468 were injured in 5,371 road accidents. Last year, 7,713 people were killed and 12,615 were injured in 6,829 road accidents.
 
Road Safety Foundation Executive Director Saidur Rahman told TBS, "The state is responsible for the continuous rise in road accidents. The number of accidents has been rising sharply but the state failed to ensure proper monitoring and make the authorities accountable. There is lack of discipline everywhere, be it on the part of the authorities or the service providers.
 
"There is a law regarding road transports but it has not been implemented properly. If only it can be implemented strictly, the causes will be removed, and the number of accidents will decrease significantly."
 
Along with implementing laws, an integrated approach is also needed to improve road safety, he added.
 
Echoing him, BPWA Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury told TBS that the problem of road accidents can be solved if the Road Transport Act 2018 – which addresses all the causes of accidents – is implemented strictly.
 
"Road accidents will not decrease if their causes are not removed. To make it happen, all concerned should work sincerely together," he added.