The road accidents and deaths during the Eid-ul-Azha saw a sharp rise this year compared to last year’s mainly due to an increase in motorbike accidents and increase of the number of passengers.
The number of road accidents has increased by 24.76 percent this year’s Eid-ul-Azha than that of the previous year, while the number of deaths in the road accident went up by 31.41 per cent in 2022 than that of 2021.
Alongside the road accidents and the deaths, the fare anarchy in the road and other transportation systems has also increased this year. The fare anarchy reached its peak this time.
These were said in a monitoring report of the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh). The report was prepared on the basis of news reports published in different media.
The organisation placed the findings of the report on road accidents during Eid rush at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Tuesday (July 19).
According to the Jatri Kalyan Samity, the main reasons for the road accidents are reckless driving and not adhering to traffic rules. Faulty construction of highway, faulty in vehicles and driving on the wrong side are also other reasons for the accidents on the roads.
The platform recommended implementing separate lanes for slow and fast-moving vehicles to avoid road accident, proper implementation of the Road Transport Act to prevent the misuse of traffic rules and taking initiatives to make efficient drivers.
Secretary General of Jatri Kalyan Samity Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury placed the findings of the report and read out the written statement at the press conference.
Adviser to the former caretaker government Hossain Zillur Rahman, assistant professor of BUET’s Accident Research Center Kazi Md Shifun Newaz, chief executive officer of Uttara Motors Shahadat Hossain, vice president of Jatri Kalyan Samity Tawhidul Haque Liton, its joint secretary general Monirul Haque and publicity secretary Mahmudul Hasan Rasel were also present, among others.
Placing the report, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said that the highest number of road accidents and deaths occurred during this Eid journey in the last seven years.
According to the Jatri Kalyan Samity, at least 398 people were killed and 774 others injured in 319 road accidents in 15 days during the recent Eid-ul-Azha across the country.
Among these, the highest 113 accidents were involved with motorcycles in which the 131 people were killed. The number of bike accident is 35.42 per cent of the total road accidents, while 32.91 per cent of total deaths.
Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said that that although 37 lakh motorcycles were stopped during the Eid journey this year, only nine percent of motorcycle accidents were reduced in this Eid. It is not possible to reduce accidents by stopping any one specific vehicle, proving that this Eid has the highest number of accidents and fatalities in the past seven years. This requires political will, a comprehensive action plan and the necessary funds, he added.
Among the total 398 deceased, 165 are transport workers, while 106 are pedestrians and 36 are students, says the report of the Jatri Kalyan Samity.
During the same period between July 3 and July 17, a total of 25 people were killed and two others injured in 25 railways accidents.
During the reporting period, 17 people were killed, 15 injured and three others went missing in 10 waterways accidents.
During last year’s Eid-ul-Azha, a total of 273 people were killed and 447 more injured in 240 road accidents, according to the organisation.
The accident analysis shows that 29.03 per cent motorcycles, 23.18 per cent trucks, pickup, covered van and lorry, 5.62 per cent private cars, micro and jeep, 3.98 per cent Nachiman, Kariman, tractor, Laguna and Mahindra, 11.47 per cent autorickshaws, 9.36 per cent battery rickshaw, easybike, van-cycle and 17.33 per cent buses were involved in these accidents.
A total of 23.19 per cent of the road accidents were head-on collisions, while 50.78 per cent pedestrians were hit by cars, 18.49 per cent were due to loss of control and fell into ditches, 6.89 per cent were due to other unknown reasons and 0.31 percent were due to wheelie accidents.
Analyzing the types of these accidents, 32.91 per cent of the total accidents occurred on national highways, while 46.70 per cent on regional highways, and 15.36 per cent on feeder roads. 4.70 per cent of the total accidents occured in Dhaka city.
Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury said that the number of road accidents increased during this Eid as movement of people increased this year as there were no restriction on movement.
According to him, about 1.2 crore people left Dhaka to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with their near and dear ones and a total of around four crore people moved from one district to another.
About fare anarchy, Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury said that there has been the biggest fare anarchy this Eid-ul-Azha as the unscrupulous section in the transport sector has taken the advantage of the public transport crisis following the regulation of Eid trips on motorcycles to control road accidents.
The Jatri Kalyan Samity leader said that as in the past, long traffic jams were also seen on the road this time. A 4-hour journey took 15 to 20 hours on various routes due to mismanagement. The organisation alleged that hotels and restaurants have taken advantage of passengers due to the traffic congestions. Many had to pay extra fares.
Along with passenger harassment and fare anarchy, unfit buses as well as trucks, curved vans, pickups, chicken-carrying prison vans have also seen carrying passengers, alleged the Jatri Kalyan Samity.
According to the organisation, as always, train schedule disruption, ticket black market, difficulties in getting tickets were followed by various sufferings of railway passengers. After the launch of the Padma Bridge, fares were reduced on various waterways in the country due to the passenger crisis, but tickets for the Eid trips were black market. So, fare anarchy remained the same for the passengers of the waterways.
In the event, Hossain Zillur Rahman said that good governance can’t be established in the transport sector, which is known as the lifeline of the economy, if the interests being more important than passenger welfare or road safety. He also said that the number of motorcycles and easy bikes is increasing in the country due to the lack of public transport. So the road accidents and fatalities are increasing day by day.
He called upon the government to bring the overall policy of road safety into consideration.
Kazi Shifun Newaz of BUET said that the government needed to be brought under accountability to reduce the number of road accidents.
