The battery-operated easy-bikes, nosimon, auto-rickshaws, etc, and Mahindra-type automobiles caused the highest number of road accidents in January, according to a report, published on Monday.
These vehicles were involved in 163 accidents, causing 139 deaths and 336 injuries, representing 24.73 per cent of the total accidents, 20.53 per cent of the fatalities, and 26.43 per cent of the injuries, said the report of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (JKS).
JKS reported a total of 677 casualties and 1,271 injuries in 659 road accidents in January. The report was prepared on the basis of monitoring 96 widely circulated and credible national, regional, online, and electronic news sources.
Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of accidents, while Mymensingh Division had the lowest.
Of the total, 59 people were killed and 23 injured in 57 railway accidents; whereas 18 people were killed, nine injured and five missing in 16 waterway accidents.
During the period, 301 people were killed and 239 injured in 289 motorcycle accidents, which was 43.85 per cent of the total accidents, 44.46 per cent of the deaths, and 18.80 per cent of the injuries.
In addition, 159 people died and 452 injured in 156 bus accidents, which was 23.67 per cent of the total accidents, 23.49 per cent of the deaths, and 35.56 per cent of the injuries.
A total of 1,032 vehicles were identified in the accidents, of which 16.57 per cent were buses, 23.83 per cent were trucks, pickups, covered vans and lorries, 5.42 per cent were cars, jeeps, microbuses, 4.94 per cent were CNG-powered auto-rickshaws, 31.29 per cent were motorcycles, and 17.92 per cent were battery-powered rickshaws, easy-bikes, nosimon, korimon, etc, and Mahindra, tractors and legunas.
Although the number of motorcycle and battery-powered auto-rickshaw-related accidents has increased dramatically, the total picture could not be depicted, as all these stories were not properly reported in the media.
An analysis of the places of accidents showed that 37.80 per cent of the total accidents occurred on the national highways, 28.75 per cent on the regional highways, and 28.04 per cent on the feeder roads.
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