They said the accidents take place because of drivers' lack of knowledge about traffic rules and lack of proper maintenance of roads and highways.

The roundtable was organised by Society of Human Endeavour of Broad Achievement (SHEBA) for Bangladesh to discuss the role of transport owners, road builders, law enforcers, BRTA and NGOs in preventing road accidents.

G M Siraj, member of parliament and chairman of Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners' Association (BBTOA), chaired the roundtable.

"As road maintenance costs less than one percent of the total amount of money spent on road construction, Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) should take care of the pot holes, broken edge, bridge, culvert and other uneven areas on the roads and designate appropriate signs and marks there," said Zakir Hossain, executive engineer of RHD Road Safety Division.

For instance, the recently installed speed breaker at Manik Mia Avenue in the city has not been marked till date.

Siraj said he will raise the issue at the next session of parliament and request the World Bank to provide a special fund only for road maintenance.

"Instead of checking only the fitness of the buses, patrol police should also detect the speed of the buses and trucks while moving on roads to help stop accidents," Hossain added.

He said it is also important for the transport owners to provide necessary facilities including weekends, bonus and proper treatment to the drivers in order to mitigate their stress.

The government has already taken the initiative to install trauma centre at every police station near the highways. Around seventeen of them have already been installed, he added.

"Drivers should have necessary training and certificate on road study in addition to their licenses," suggested Dr Ahmed Kamal, professor of history department of Dhaka University.

He recommended for a separate fund for the rehabilitation of the injured drivers.

ABM Abu Bakar Siddiqui, accident data analyst of BRTA, said they have launched a website to check the validation of licenses through computers.

"Driving licenses should be verified strictly by BRTA as fake licenses have increased alarmingly. Besides, accidents committed by the drivers should be recorded in their licenses," said Babu Romesh Chandra Ghosh, managing director of Shyamoli Paribahan.

According to a report of BRTA, 2,968 people were killed in road accidents last year.

Forty percent of the total accidents were 'head-on collision' due to lack of road dividers on the highways, it added.