Over 150 families wiped out in accidents in last 5 years: RSF

The number of accidents that killed entire families is increasing, with over 150 families wiped out in the past five years, according to a report by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF).

RSF prepared the report based on information from nine national dailies, seven online news portals, and electronic media, according to a press release on Tuesday.

From 2020 to November 2024, road accident monitoring indicates a rising trend of entire families or multiple family members being killed together while riding motorbikes, auto-rickshaws, cars, microbuses, and ambulances.

According to the report, the highest number of fatalities, 1,179 people from 352 families, occurred in accidents involving auto-rickshaws.

A total of 246 husbands and wives lost their lives in 123 motorbike accidents, while 168 fathers and sons were killed in 84 accidents.

In microbus accidents, 280 people from 75 families were killed while 249 people from 76 families lost their lives.

Additionally, 70 people from 18 families were killed in ambulance accidents.

The report identified several key factors contributing to the rise in road accidents:

The Road Safety Foundation has identified five reasons for the rise in the number of road accidents. Those are - the expansion of road infrastructure has led to an increase in families traveling together or commuting to work; the presence of auto-rickshaws on highways; poor fitness of most microbuses and ambulances; inefficiency and reckless driving by microbus and ambulance drivers; and reckless driving by motor vehicle operators who fail to follow traffic laws.

RSF proposed a few recommendations in its report. Those include - ensuring motorbike riders use high-quality helmets; promoting adherence to traffic laws while driving motor vehicles; constructing road dividers and service roads on highways for better traffic management; and strengthening monitoring of vehicle movement on roads and highways by the relevant authorities.