520 killed in 506 road accidents in July

The Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association has reported that 506 road accidents occurred across the country in the just-concluded month of July. And 520 people were killed and 1,356 were injured in these accidents. The accident report sent by the Secretary General of the Passenger Welfare Association, Md. Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, was sent to the media on Tuesday (August 12) afternoon. The organization’s Accident Monitoring Cell received this information through media monitoring. In addition, 31 people were killed and 41 were injured in 34 railway accidents this month. 17 people were killed, 14 injured and 5 are missing in 14 waterway accidents. A total of 554 accidents on roads, railways and waterways resulted in 568 deaths and 1,411 injuries. The report said that 169 people were killed and 144 injured in 162 motorcycle accidents during this period. This is 32.01 percent of the total accidents, 32.50 percent of the deaths and 10.61 percent of the injuries. The highest number of road accidents occurred in Dhaka division this month, with 122 road accidents resulting in 130 deaths and 295 injuries. The lowest number of road accidents occurred in Barisal division, with 23 road accidents resulting in 23 deaths and 95 injuries. The report mentions as the causes of road accidents that the country’s roads are damaged by the monsoon and have small and large potholes; free movement of motorcycles, battery-powered rickshaws, CNG auto-rickshaws, and Nasimon-Karimon on roads and highways; vehicles suddenly emerge from feeder roads due to the lack of road signs or road markings and road lights on national highways; lack of medians or road dividers on roads, blind corners created by trees on roads; highway construction defects, vehicle defects, tendency to disobey traffic laws; vehicles on the wrong side of the road, fireworks on the road, passenger transport in goods vehicles; incompetent drivers, unfit vehicles, excess passenger transport; Reckless driving and uninterrupted and restless driving. The recommendations to prevent accidents include urgently repairing the roads and highways of the country affected by the rain; arranging lighting for free movement at night on national and regional highways; taking initiatives to create skilled drivers, giving fitness to vehicles using a digital system; arranging service lanes including sidewalks on important national highways; stopping road hawking, ensuring drivers’ salaries and working hours; providing sidewalks and pedestrian crossings on highways, installing road signs, road markings; implementing the Road Transport Act with digital technology on the model of the developed world. In addition, it has been said to build a high-quality modern bus network across the country, increase the capacity of regulatory agencies; ensuring quality road construction and repair, conducting regular road safety audits; taking initiatives to scrap expired public transport and vehicles that have not been fit for a long time; VAT and income tax imposed on drivers who have taken driving training should be exempted, and the import and registration of motorcycles and battery-powered rickshaws should be controlled.