New Age | Government must take private accident data seriously in the interest of road safety

The fact that an average of three students have died in road accidents every day for five and a half years is as worrying as any other death of this kind, according to a report by the Road Safety Foundation released on July 13. According to the report, at least 5,619 students died in road accidents between January 2019 and June 2024. During the period January to June this year, 611 students died in road accidents, 1,153 in 2023, 1,437 in 2022, 1,006 in 2021, 719 in 2020 and 693 in 2019. The number of students killed represents 16.29 percent of the 34,478 people who died in road accidents during this period. The organization says the percentage of students killed in road accidents is alarming. 53 percent of the victims were between 18 and 25 years old and 47 percent were between 5 and 17 years old. Almost half, 49.52 percent, of the students died in motorcycle accidents, 27.3 percent after being hit or run over by vehicles, 12.83 percent were vehicle passengers, 8.84 percent were cyclists and 1.49 percent of the students died because their scarves got tangled in the tires of the vehicles.

The report further states that most of the accidents (29.38 percent) occurred on regional roads, 26.44 percent on urban roads, 23.82 percent on rural roads and 20.3 percent on national roads. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, or the government, always seems to be averse to such reports from private organizations and tries to dismiss them as meaningless, erroneous and inaccurate. It also insists that such organizations should rather discuss their findings with the public bodies rather than publishing them themselves. However, what the government or its road safety agencies fail to realize is that they could very well use the data collected by such private organizations and come up with a comprehensive plan to ensure road safety. The findings show that regional and national roads, as well as urban and rural roads, are largely equally responsible for road accidents. This suggests that the accidents are caused either by problems with the road system or road construction or even both. More than half of the accidents involving motorcycles suggest that motorcyclists are reckless and the government is not paying enough attention to motorcycling. A quarter of the accidents that occurred because vehicles hit or ran over other vehicles or pedestrians suggest that the road system is indeed in poor condition.

The report cites faulty road planning, unsuitable vehicles, violations of rules, lack of safety campaigns, reckless driving and corruption as the main reasons for the poor road conditions. In such a situation, the government must not criticise the reports of road safety organisations, but must take private accident research data seriously in order to make the roads safer.