At least 426 people died and 813 others were injured in 392 road accidents across the country in September, according to a report by the Road Safety Foundation.
The foundation prepared the report based on information from nine national dailies, seven online news portals, and electronic media, according to a press release on Monday.
Among the victims, who lost their lives in road accidents, 179 (42 per cent) were motorcyclists, 25 (5.86 per cent) bus passengers, 22 (5.16 per cent) passengers of truck-pickup-van-tractor-trolley, 24 (5.63 per cent) private car-microbus passengers, 63 (14.78 per cent) three-wheeler passengers (easy-bike, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, auto-van, tempo, leguna), 6 (1.40 per cent) passengers of locally-made vehicles (Nosimon, Korimon, Bhotbhoti, Alomshadhu, Mahindra), and 10 (2.34 per cent) bicycle-pedal rickshaw riders.
According to the RSF鈥檚 analysis, 162 (41.32 per cent) accidents occurred on national highways, 144 (36.73 per cent) on regional roads, 47 (11.98 per cent) on rural roads, 34 (8.67 per cent) on urban roads, and 5 (1.27 per cent) in other locations.
The report revealed that in September, the Dhaka division saw the highest number of accidents, with 124 reported incidents resulting in 128 fatalities. In contrast, the Barishal division recorded the lowest number of accidents, with just 15, along with 16 fatalities.
At least 19 people died, and 13 were injured in 26 accidents in the capital, the release also said.
There were eight waterway accidents that resulted in 11 fatalities, four injuries, and two individuals still reported missing. besides, 17 train track accidents led to 13 deaths and nine injuries, according to the RSF.
The organisation identified several factors contributing to the high number of casualties on the country鈥檚 roads, including reckless driving, slow-moving vehicles on highways, the absence of fixed pay and working hours for drivers, inadequate traffic management, limited capacity of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, and the prevalence of extortion within the public transport sector.
