Road accidents claim 519 lives in August

As many as 519 people, including 69 children, were dead and 961 were injured in road accidents in August, said a report Saturday.

Besides, 172 lives were lost in 183 motorcycle accidents, which is 33.14 per cent of the total deaths, the Road Safety Foundation said in its latest report, released today.

Also, 109 pedestrians and 94 drivers and their assistants were killed during this period.

Accidents on waterways claimed at least eight lives while six people went missing in 11 river accidents and 24 were killed and nine injured in train accidents across Bangladesh last month.

Road Safety Foundation based its findings on the reports of nine national dailies, seven online news portals and electronic media.

Of the total accidents, 252 occurred on the national highways, 199 on regional roads, 109 on rural roads, 64 on city roads and eight in other places, said the report.

According to the report, 27.72 per cent accidents occurred in Dhaka division, 15.28 per cent in Rajshahi, 21.61 per cent in Chattogram, 10.08 per cent in Khulna, 8.80 per cent in Barishal, 4.14 per cent in Sylhet, 8.95 per cent in Rangpur and 7.42 per cent in Mymensingh divisions.

The highest number of accidents was recorded in Dhaka division where 242 people were killed in 127 accidents. Twenty-one people were killed in Sylhet division, the lowest compared to other divisions, said the report.

The RSF pointed out several major reasons behind the rise in the number of road accidents.

The reasons include dilapidated vehicles; reckless driving; desperate mentality, incompetence and illness of drivers; unsettled wages and working hours; prevalence of low-speed traffic on highways; reckless motorcycling by the youth; the tendency of flouting traffic rules, poor management of traffic; lack of efficiency of the BRTA; and extortion in the sector.