A total of 413 people were killed and 532 injured in 379 road accidents across the country in November this year. Among the deceased, 58 were children and 67 were women.
This information came up in a report of Road Safety Foundation on Saturday.
The findings of the report have been prepared based on the information collected from seven national dailies, five online news portals and electronic media.
According to the Road Safety Foundation, nine people were killed and five went missing in seven waterway accidents. At least 13 people were killed and two were injured in 11 railway accidents.
According to the report, the highest number of accidents and deaths occurred in Dhaka division. 104 people killed in 83 accidents in Dhaka division. The lowest number of accidents occurred in Barisal division where 24 people died in 22 accidents. The highest number of accidents and deaths were reported in Chattogram as a single district with where 29 people died in 21 accidents. The lowest number of accidents occurred in Lalmonirhat district where two accidents took place but no one was injured. At least 16 people have been killed in 14 accidents in the capital Dhaka.
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The Road Safety Foundation further informed that 407 people were killed in 346 road accidents in October. On an average, 11.16 accidents took place every day and 13.12 people were killed. In November, an average of 12.63 accidents occurred every day and 13.76 people were killed. Compared to October, the number of accidents in November has increased by 13.17 percent and the death toll has increased by 4.87 percent.
According to the Road Safety Foundation, the main causes of road accidents in the country are faulty vehicles; reckless speed; reckless mentality of drivers, incompetence and physical-mental illness; unspecified salary and working hours of drivers; low-speed traffic on highways; reckless motorcycling of young people; the public tendency of disobeying traffic laws; poor traffic management; BRTA’s lack of capability and extortion in the public transport sector.
Road Safety Foundation made some recommendations to prevent road accidents. These include the need to increase the number of skilled drivers; specified salary and working hours of drivers and ensuring uninterrupted application of traffic laws to transport owners, workers, passengers and pedestrians.
The organization further suggested that separate side lanes (service lanes) should be created for low-speed vehicles on the highways; road dividers should be constructed on all highways in phases; extortion on public transport must be stopped; railways and waterways need to be expanded to reduce pressure on road; sustainable transportation strategies must be formulated and implemented and 'Road Transport Act-2018' has to be implemented without any hindrance.
