April Road Crashes Claim 404 Lives

In April, a total of 463 road traffic accidents were recorded across the country, resulting in 404 fatalities and 709 injuries, according to a report published on Wednesday (6 May) by the Road Safety Foundation. The organisation compiled the data from reports published in nine national daily newspapers, 17 national and regional online news portals, various electronic media outlets, and its own internal sources.

Among the total fatalities, motorcyclists accounted for a significant proportion. Out of 142 motorcycle-related accidents, 113 people were killed, representing 27.97 per cent of all deaths. Pedestrians also remained highly vulnerable, with 102 deaths, accounting for 25.24 per cent of the total fatalities. In addition, 46 deaths were reported among drivers and their assistants.

Road-type distribution of accidents

The analysis shows that accidents occurred across different categories of roads, with national highways and regional roads bearing the highest burden.

Regional roads recorded the highest number of incidents, followed closely by national highways.

Nature of accidents

The report further categorised the 463 accidents based on their nature. The findings show that loss of control was the most common factor, followed by pedestrian-related incidents and head-on collisions.

• Head-on collisions: 97 incidents
• Loss of control: 194 incidents
• Pedestrian hit/knockdown: 106 incidents
• Rear-end collisions: 52 incidents

Vehicles involved

A total of 659 vehicles were involved in the reported accidents. The distribution of vehicle types is shown below:

Motorcycles constituted the highest single category of vehicles involved in crashes, reflecting their significant exposure in road traffic incidents.

Time of occurrence

Temporal analysis indicates that accidents were most frequent in the morning, accounting for 28.50 per cent of all incidents. Night-time accidents represented 19 per cent of the total.

Regional distribution

The report identifies substantial variation across divisions, with the highest concentration of accidents recorded in Dhaka Division.

Within the capital city, 36 accidents were recorded, resulting in 24 deaths and 67 injuries.

Contributing factors

The Road Safety Foundation attributed the causes of road accidents to several systemic and behavioural factors. These include defective vehicles and road conditions, excessive speeding, driver incompetence, the presence of slow-moving vehicles on highways, reckless riding among young motorcyclists, violation of traffic regulations, weak traffic management systems, and alleged extortion in the public transport sector.

The report underscores that these factors collectively continue to contribute to the high incidence of road traffic accidents and associated casualties across the country.