Road accidents claim 543 lives in April: RSF
Highest 206 people were killed in motorcycle crashes
FE Report | Sunday, 8 May 2022
At least 543 people were killed and 612 others injured in 427 road accidents across the country in April, according to a report prepared by a rights platform.
A total of 189 motorcycle crashes killed 206 people, which was the highest or 37.93 per cent of the total deaths, the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) said in its monthly report released on Saturday.
The deceased include 67 females and 81 minors while 116 victims were passersby and 87 were transport workers and drivers.
The RSF prepared the tally based on reports covered by seven national dailies, five online news portals and electronic media.
In addition to the road crashes, eight people died and six went missing in six waterways accidents while 21 railway related accidents left 23 people dead and five others injured.
Among the reported road crashes, 84 occurred due to head-on collision, 167 for losing control over vehicles, and pedestrians were run over by vehicles in 113 accidents.
Truck, covered van and pickup were involved in 30.11 per cent of the total road crashes, the RSF report said.
Most of the accidents or 32.55 per cent took place in the morning and 20.60 per cent in the late afternoon.
Dhaka division witnessed highest 131 accidents which left 156 people dead.
The reasons behind the road crashes were use of faulty vehicles, reckless driving, drivers' incompetence as well as physical and mental illness.
Besides, slow traffic on highways, reckless motorcycling, people's tendency to violate traffic rules, poor traffic management and extortion in the public transport sector were responsible for road accidents.
The RSF also placed a set of recommendations to help curb road accidents including taking initiatives to create skilled drivers, fixing drivers' working hours, enhancing the BRTA's capacity and ensuring proper implementation of traffic laws.
It suggested keeping separate or service roads to prevent slow-moving vehicles on the highways, erecting road dividers on all highways, end of extortion on public transport.
The rights body also called for enhancing the capacity of railways and waterways with an aim to ease traffic congestion on roads and highways.
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