Motorbikes the biggest killer on roads in April: Study

Among the people killed in road accidents across the country in April, 44.28% died in motorcycle accidents, a report by the Road Safety Foundation reveals.

The foundation, which works on road safety, released its April report on road accidents on Saturday based on information from seven national dailies, five online news portals and electronic media.

According to the report, 427 road accidents took place in the country in April, leaving 543 people dead and 612 injured.

Out of the 543, as many as 206 people were killed in motorcycle accidents, of which 37.93% were motorcyclists and pillions, while 21.36% were passers-by. In March, trucks, covered-vans and pickups caused most of the accidents (30.11%) followed by motorcycles (26%), three-wheelers (15.32%) and buses (10.43%).  

In April, 18 people died in accidents per day, which is 4.73% lower than that in March.

Among other reasons for accidents, the report found reckless motorcycle driving by minors and youths, inefficiency and hurry of drivers, little knowledge of traffic rules and ignoring rules, poor traffic management system, lax surveillance by authorities and extortion in the public transport sector are the major ones.

Road Safety Foundation Executive Director Saidur Rahman said mentally and physically unfit freight vehicle drivers drive recklessly.

The death toll of pedestrians also rose sharply as pedestrians do not follow the rules on the road, and so do vehicles.

In April, 43.79% of accidents took place on the national highways, 28.8% on regional roads and 42% on rural roads.

As many as 24 died from 22 accidents in the capital in April.

Division wise, Dhaka tops the list with 156 deaths from 131 accidents while 19 accidents occurred in Sylhet which is the lowest.

Among districts across the country, Dhaka district witnessed the highest number of accidents (44 died from 39 accidents), and the lowest number of accidents (24 died from 22 accidents) took place in Jhalakathi.

The report makes several recommendations to prevent motorcycle accidents, which include ensuring proper implementation of the Road Transport Act-2018, increasing the initiative to create skilled drivers, improving the public transportation system, constructing road dividers and increasing the capacity of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.