463 killed, 1,323 injured in road accidents in June

Last June, 463 people were killed and 1,323 injured in 532 road accidents in the country. Meanwhile, 45 people were killed and 8 injured in 53 rail accidents. 5 people were killed and 5 injured in 5 accidents on waterways. A total of 590 accidents on roads, railways and waterways resulted in 513 deaths and 1,336 injuries. This information was given in a press release signed by the organization’s Secretary General Md. Mozammel Haque Chowdhury on Tuesday (July 14).
The press release also said that 173 people were killed and 132 injured in 172 motorcycle accidents in June; which is 32.33 percent of the total accidents, 37.36 percent of deaths and 9.97 percent of injuries. The highest number of road accidents occurred in Chittagong division this month, where 128 road accidents resulted in 126 deaths and 373 injuries. On the other hand, Mymensingh division had the lowest number of road accidents, where 26 people were killed and 35 injured in 25 road accidents.
This information was obtained through media monitoring by the Accident Monitoring Cell of Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association. The actual number of casualties may be several times higher; which could not be mentioned in the newspaper due to lack of space. Among those injured in road accidents, 22 law enforcement officers, 116 drivers, 82 pedestrians, 29 transport workers, 87 students, 10 teachers, 52 women, 55 children, one journalist, one engineer and 10 leaders and workers of various political parties have been identified.
Of these, 2 policemen, one army member, one engineer, 111 drivers of various vehicles, 71 pedestrians, 45 women, 47 children, 60 students, 11 transport workers, 10 teachers and 9 leaders and workers of various political parties have been killed.
During this period, the identities of 795 vehicles involved in road accidents have been identified. It can be seen that 26.79 percent of these were motorcycles, 25.28 percent were trucks-pickups-covered vans and lorries, 17.35 percent were buses, 14.96 percent were battery-operated rickshaws and easy bikes, 5.28 percent were CNG-operated auto-rickshaws, 4.15 percent were Nachiman-Kariman-Mahindra tractors and Lagunas, and 6.16 percent were cars-jeeps-microbuses.
Of the total accidents, 27.63 percent were due to vehicles being crushed or hit, 43.23 percent were due to head-on collisions, 20.67 percent were due to losing control and falling into ditches, 7.14 percent due to various reasons, 0.18 percent due to rear-end collisions, and 1.12 percent were due to train-vehicle collisions.
Analysis of the type of accidents shows that 44.73 percent of the total accidents this month occurred on national highways, 28.38 percent on regional highways, and 20.67 percent on connecting roads. Besides, 4.13 percent of the total accidents occurred in Dhaka metropolitan area, 0.93 percent in Chittagong metropolitan area and 1.12 percent at rail crossings.
Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association Secretary General Md. Mozammel Haque Chowdhury demanded that the Ministry of Road Transport and BRTA be run under the supervision of domestic and foreign transport experts and international experts in road safety instead of bureaucrats to stop the procession of thousands of deaths on the roads every year. At the same time, he called for the introduction of control and e-prosecution systems through the use of technology on the roads as well as taking extensive activities to increase passenger awareness.