Treating road safety as an emergency

Bangladesh ranks among the worst nations in the world in terms of road safety. A World Economic Forum (WEF) opinion survey ranked Bangladesh's roads among the worst in Asia and 113th globally considering their poor infrastructures. In South Asia, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan ranked significantly better than Bangladesh. There is no gainsaying the fact that unsafe roads are a primary cause of road mishaps and Bangladesh's poor ranking is unsurprising.

That the number and frequency of casualties from road accidents have only been increasing rather than decreasing is a telltale sign of how unconcerned the authorities to look after the issue have been over the years. In this context, a report carried by this paper in its Sunday, 11 January issue speaks volumes for that. In the past five years, road accidents in the country has increased by about 60 per cents, while the attendant death toll from those road mishaps have risen by 36 per cent. A private organization styled, 'Road Safety Foundation (RSF)', came up with the findings in its annual report of 2025 based on different media sources as well as its own study. The RSF study further informs that motorbikes were the leading cause of road accidents. In 2025, for instance, close to 2,700 people died from about 3,000 motorbike accidents across the country. Evidently, the fatality figure involving motorbike crashes is mind-boggling and one wonders why the road safety authorities have not yet swung into action and taken urgent measures to restrict the movement of such murderous vehicles on the country's roads and highways!

It is not surprising that the age group of the motorbike accident victims ranged between 14 and 45 years. What is further depressing about the road mishap-related fatality statistics is the large number of pedestrian deaths and of them children comprising close to one third of the total victims. Worse, the casualty rate is higher on the rural and regional roads compared to those in the urban areas. That immediately brings to mind the poor road conditions in the countryside, recklessness of those at the steering wheels of mainly passenger buses and goods-laden trucks and the level of poor law-enforcement there. Here again the issue of urban-rural divide comes to the fore. But when it comes to the case of the capital city, the report has no redeeming features either as the city recorded the highest death toll in 1995 from road accidents in comparison with the national average. The highest frequency of the fatalities was at night and the vehicles that posed the highest risk in this regard were found to be the heavy transports.

However, it is not just the casualty figures from road accidents that should concern the average person most. The financial costs of the accidents were no less disconcerting when considered in individual, family contexts and at the national level. In just one year, 2025, to be specific, the road accidents alone cost the nation to the tune of Tk 225 billion. If the unreported cases of the road mishaps are also taken into consideration, the total figure would come to over 1.5 per cent of the national GDP. But the nation would not have to bear losses on such an astronomical scale in terms of both the lives and the money lost on the road, had those in charge been only a bit more mindful of their responsibilities. So, establishing accountability at all levels including the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) is urgent at the moment. Also, effective implementation of the relevant road safety laws, training of officials on road safety, better trained and well-paid drivers, etc., are some of the pre-requisites to improve safety on the nation's roads.