What is the real death toll from road accidents?

Figures are a big issue when they are about death of people. The figures should be exact, if one is to be respectful of the dead. But the varying monthly or annual figures on the fatalities from road accidents as provided by different government and non-government sources may give one the impression that we as a nation have little respect for the dead. For the victims of road accidents were people like us and not just numbers. Granted that there are limitations attributable to inadequacy of sources supplying the information on the road accidents and the fatalities from them. And there are also unavoidable errors involved with the gathering and compiling of the information from the fields. So, there might be slight differences in the death figures published by different organisations doing the job. But if the differences in the death figures (from road accidents) published periodically by some of these organisations are too big to reconcile, then the very purpose of publishing the reports become questionable. Mention may be made at this point of the report of huge mismatch between the World Health Organisation (WHO)-provided statistics on 2021's death toll (from road accidents in Bangladesh) and that published by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). The recently published WHO report says, in 2021, some 31,578 people died in road accidents in Bangladesh. The BRTA's death figure, on the other hand, is 5,084.The difference between the two figures is indeed enormous. The people who prepared the report have been visibly upset about the WHO's figure so much so that they have not just rejected it outright, but also asked for the 'list of the dead' from road accidents from WHO. This is unfortunate. Rather than being reactive, the BRTA could approach the issue in a spirit of sharing and sort out the points of difference amicably.
For this is not the only case of such discrepancies in casualty figures related to road accidents. According to the BRTA, for instance, in January and February this year, 636 people were killed and 752 injured in 630 road accidents across the country. On the other hand, Bangladesh Police, who also provide road casualty figures, in their report for the same period said, 540 people died, 420 received injuries in 557 road accidents. Interestingly, BRTA, earlier, used the police-provided data on road accidents. But since January this year it has been using its own data. That's fair enough. But question remains as to whose figure is more dependable, say, for using in the preparation of a future plan to reduce traffic accidents in the city? But apart from these two government agencies, there are four private organisations who publish road casualty figures regularly. In most cases, their casualty figures are higher than those provided by the police and BRTA. And there is nothing to be upset about higher death counts from automobile accidents. Rather than being too critical of the non-government bodies and the international development partners doing the commendable job of keeping track of the road accidents and the deaths and injuries they cause, it would be better to develop the mindset of cooperation and sharing with them. If the private and government agencies cooperate in the task of collecting and preparing information about road accidents, it will be possible to produce more accurate data on the number of people killed and injured in road accidents in the country. And that would contribute immensely towards the government's effort at implementing the National Road Safety Strategic Action Plan-2021-2024. The plan is in concert with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of reducing deaths from road accidents by half within 2030.
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