469 die, 837 injured in road accidents in October

Bangladesh saw 443 road accidents in October this year, claiming the lives of 469 people and injuring 837 others, reports UNB.

Among the deceased were 74 women and 66 children.

A total of 208 motorbike-related accidents led to 196 deaths, comprising 41.79 per cent of the total fatalities, with a motorbike accident rate of 46.95 per cent.

Besides, 102 pedestrians (21.74 per cent) and 67 vehicle operators or their assistants (14.28 per cent) were killed.

During the same period, four maritime accidents caused seven deaths and injured three, while 21 railway incidents resulted in 18 fatalities and six injuries.

The Road Safety Foundation compiled this report based on data from nine national dailies, seven online news portals, various electronic media, and its internal records.

The breakdown of fatalities by vehicle reveals motorbike riders or passengers accounted for 196 deaths (41.79 per cent), bus passengers for 31 (6.60 per cent), and occupants of trucks, covered vans, pickups, trolleys, or lorries for 20 (4.26 per cent).

Private car, microbus, and ambulance passengers comprised 12 (2.55 per cent), while passengers on three-wheelers (e.g., autorickshaws, CNGs, tomtoms) accounted for 94 deaths (20.04 per cent).

Locally manufactured vehicles (such as Nosimon and Korimon) were involved in 10 deaths (2.13 per cent), with bicyclists and rickshaw passengers making up 4 deaths (0.85 per cent).

The Road Safety Foundation's analysis shows 173 (39.05 per cent) of the incidents occurred on national highways, 162 (36.56 per cent) on regional roads, 64 (14.44 per cent) on rural roads, and 38 (8.57 per cent) in urban areas, with six accidents (1.35 per cent) at other unspecified locations.

The incidents included 112 (25.28 per cent) head-on collisions, 171 (38.60 per cent) incidents caused by loss of control, 104 (23.47 per cent) incidents of pedestrians being struck, 42 (9.48 per cent) rear-end collisions, and 14 (3.16 per cent) caused by other factors.

Of the vehicles involved, trucks, covered vans, pickups, tractors, trolleys, lorries, and drum trucks were involved in 25.48 per cent of accidents.

Microbuses, private cars, ambulances, and jeeps accounted for 4.39 per cent, passenger buses for 14.48 per cent, motorbikes for 28.07 per cent, and three-wheelers (such as auto-rickshaws) for 17.59 per cent. Locally manufactured vehicles represented 5.43 per cent, bicycles and rickshaws made up 1.81 per cent, and unidentified vehicles were involved in 2.71 per cent.

A total of 773 vehicles were involved, including 112 buses, 119 trucks, 22 covered vans, 25 pickups, seven tractors, six trolleys, nine lorries, eight drum trucks, one 18-wheeler lorry, 12 microbuses, 14 private cars, five ambulances, three jeeps, 217 motorbikes, 136 three-wheelers, 42 locally manufactured vehicles, 14 bicycles or rickshaws, and 21 unidentified vehicles.

An analysis of the time distribution indicates that 5.41 per cent of accidents occurred at dawn, 26.63 per cent in the morning, 16.93 per cent in the afternoon, 15.57 per cent in the evening, 9.25 per cent around dusk, and 26.18 per cent at night.