A total of 513 road accidents across the country in the month of August resulted in 481 deaths and 664 injuries, according to a report released by the Road Safety Foundation.
According to the organization's calculations, while the daily average of road accident fatalities was 13.41 in July, it increased to 15.51 in August. As a result, road accident deaths in August increased by 15.65 percent compared to July.
Alongside road accidents, August also saw seven waterway accidents that left six people dead and nine injured, as well as 34 railway accidents resulting in 27 deaths and 23 injuries.
The Road Safety Foundation prepared the transport accident report for August based on information from nine national dailies, 17 online news portals, various electronic media, and its own sources.
The report stated that 58 of the deceased are children. A total of 176 people were killed in 183 motorcycle accidents, accounting for 36.59 percent of total deaths. Motorcycles were involved in 35.67 percent of total accidents.
According to division-wise data, the highest number of accidents occurred in the Dhaka division with 172 incidents, resulting in 144 deaths. The lowest number of accidents occurred in the Barishal division with 15 incidents, causing 14 deaths. Among districts, Bogura recorded the highest number of fatalities with 37 deaths. In the capital city of Dhaka, 48 accidents left 23 people dead and 54 injured.
Based on vehicle types, the casualties among passengers included 37 bus passengers, 51 passengers of trucks, covered vans, pickups, tractors, lorries, and drum trucks, 11 passengers of microbuses, cars, and jeeps, 78 passengers of three-wheelers such as autorickshaws, auto-vans, easy-bikes, CNGs, and legunas, and 21 passengers of Nasimon, Vootvoti, and Mahindra. Five rickshaw and bicycle riders were also killed.
Among the accidents, 163 occurred on national highways, 217 on regional roads, 62 on rural roads, and 71 on urban roads. As for causes, 126 head-on collisions, 195 instances of losing control, 106 cases of running over or hitting pedestrians, and 78 rear-end collisions were identified.
Among the 749 vehicles involved in the accidents, freight vehicles accounted for 28.57 percent, motorcycles for 25.90 percent, three-wheelers for 14.95 percent, passenger buses for 13.75 percent, and microbuses, cars, ambulances, and jeeps for 6.14 percent.
Analysis showed that the highest number of accidents occurred during dawn and night, with 20.07 percent of total accidents taking place during these times.
Highlighting excessive speed and reckless driving as the main causes of accidents, the Road Safety Foundation put forward 12 recommendations. These measures include the reconstruction of the National Road Safety Commission, increasing the use of technology in monitoring, and constructing service roads on highways.
