Road accidents killed over 7,300 people in 2025, motorcycles involved in 40pc cases: Road Safety Foundation

Road accidents and fatalities have increased in the country, along with the number of injured. In 2025, a total of 7,359 people were killed in road accidents, while another 16,476 were injured.

The highest number of accidents involved motorcycles. A total of 962 women and 1,008 children were killed in these accidents.

Road Safety Foundation, an organisation that works on road safety conditions and the causes of accidents, presented these figures at a press conference at the Sagar–Runi Auditorium of the Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital’s Segunbagicha area today, Saturday.

The organisation said that in 2025, these deaths and injuries resulted from 7,584 road accidents. In addition, 132 waterway accidents also took place in 2025, resulting in 149 deaths.

Another 123 people were injured, and 34 remain missing. Rail accidents numbered 519 during the year, killing 478 people and injuring 152.

The Road Safety Foundation prepared the report based on data from nine national daily newspapers, seven online news portals, electronic media, and its own sources.

In 2024, there were a total of 6,927 accidents, in which 7,294 people were killed and 12,019 injured.

According to the organisation, motorcycles accounted for the highest number of road accidents in 2025. A total of 2,672 people were killed in 3,029 motorcycle accidents. These figures represent 39.93 per cent of total accidents and 36.29 per cent of total fatalities, respectively.

Road Safety Foundation data show that in 2025, a total of 5,723 working-age people between 18 and 65 years were killed in road accidents, accounting for nearly 78 per cent of total deaths.

Explaining the reasons behind the rise in motorcycle accidents, Road Safety Foundation Chairman Professor AI Mahbub Uddin Ahmed said at the press conference that motorcycles make up 71 per cent of all motor vehicles in the country.

A large proportion of motorcycle riders are teenagers and young men, who drive recklessly, causing accidents that injure themselves as well as others, he added.

Professor AI Mahbub Uddin Ahmed said that several institutions are involved in establishing discipline in the country’s roads and transport sector, including the BRTA, BRTC, DTCA, Bangladesh Police, city corporations, and municipalities. However, there is a severe lack of coordination among these institutions.

There are institutional mismanagement, structural weaknesses, and accountability is almost nonexistent. For these reasons, discipline in road transport is not being established and accidents are not decreasing. Year after year, initiatives to restore discipline on the roads remain confined to meetings, workshops, committee formations, and recommendations, he said.

The Road Safety Foundation identified 13 causes of road accidents in the country. These include faulty vehicles, overloading, drivers’ lack of skills and poor health, absence of fixed wages and working hours for drivers, faulty road infrastructure, reckless motorcycle riding by youths, lack of public awareness and compliance with traffic laws, and deficiencies in the capacity and accountability of the BRTA.

To reduce road accidents, the Road Safety Foundation put forward 21 recommendations. These include reconstituting the National Road Safety Council, reforming the BRTA, BRTC, and DTCA, making the use of technology mandatory, increasing institutional initiatives to produce skilled drivers, ensuring drivers’ wages, working hours, healthcare, professional benefits, and using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to control motorcycle speed.

At the press conference, Road Safety Foundation Vice Chairman Syed Jahangir said that appropriate technology is still not being used in Bangladesh to ensure road safety, leaving the country far behind the developed world in this regard.

Ahead of the upcoming election, Vice Chairman Kamran ul Baset urged that political parties be monitored to see whether they make any commitments to restoring discipline on the roads and preventing road accidents. He called on the media to play a role in this matter.

The press conference was moderated by Road Safety Foundation Executive Director Saidur Rahman. Others present included Vice Chairman Professor Hasina Begum, Joint Secretary Zahidul Islam, Mahmud Riyaz, Treasurer Kazi Maksudur Rahman, Executive Member Aminur Rahim, and Research Coordinator Pahari Bhattacharya.