Road accidents killed 583 in April: Jatri Kalyan Samity
Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS), a passenger welfare platform, said that a total of 583 people were killed and 1,202 injured in 567 road accidents across the country in the month of April, citing media reports.
Motorcycle accidents have contributed to the highest deaths and injuries in April with 215 motorcycle accidents that killed 229 people and injured 224 others, it said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "This is 37.91 percent of total accidents, 39.27 percent of the deaths and 18.64 percent of the injuries," said the statement prepared by the accident monitoring cell of the BJKS and signed by its Secretary General Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury.
The highest number of road accidents occurred in Chittagong division, with 138 road accidents resulting in 136 deaths and 377 injuries, while the lowest number of road accidents occurred in Sylhet division, with 31 deaths and 51 injuries in 28 road accidents.
Additionally, 35 people were killed and five others injured in 35 train mishaps, alongside 10 being killed and one going missing in eight accidents on waterways, according to BJKS.
A total of 628 individuals were killed and 1207 others injured in 610 transportation related accidents.
As many as 839 vehicles were engaged in road accidents in April, of them 30.39 percent were motorcycles, 17.64 percent were trucks, pickups, covered vans, and lorries, 13.71 percent were buses, 16.69 percent were battery-operated rickshaws and easy bikes, 7.74 percent were CNG-powered auto-rickshaws, 7.27 percent were Nachiman-Kariman, Mahindra-tractors and Lagunas, and 6.55 percent were cars-jeeps-microbuses.
BJKS also said that 31.74 percent of the total accidents occurred on national highways, 29.10 percent on regional highways, and 33.68 percent on feeder roads.
It said 4.05 percent of the total accidents occurred in Dhaka Metropolitan City, 1.05 percent in Chittagong Metropolitan City, and 0.35 percent at railway crossings.
As per BJKS, the major causes behind road accidents are free movement of motorcycles and battery-powered rickshaws on roads and highways, lack of signs, markings and lights on the national highways alongside regional and feeder roads, tendency to disobey traffic rules, inefficient drivers, unfit vehicles, carrying excess passengers, and reckless driving.
The BJKS has recommended stopping import and registration of motorcycles and easy bikes on an urgent basis, installing lights on the national and regional highways, training skilled drivers, providing fitness of vehicles digitally, arranging separate lanes for slow and fast vehicles, stopping hoarding on the roads, building sidewalks and pedestrian crossings on the highways, installing signs and markings.
It also stressed the need for executing the Road Transport Act appropriately in a digital manner alongside developing a high-quality modern bus networks, increasing the capacity of the regulatory body BRTA, ensuring quality road construction and repair, conducting regular road safety audits and taking initiatives to scrap expired public transport and long-term unfit vehicles to stop the road accidents.
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