THE death of three students in road accidents on an average every day, which has happened for five years and a half, as a Road Safety Foundation report published on July 13 says, is as concerning as any other such death. The report says that at least 5,619 students died in traffic accidents in January 2019鈥揓une 2024, noting that 611 students died in road accidents in January鈥揓une this year, 1,153 in 2023, 1,437 in 2022, 1,006 in 2021, 719 in 2020 and 693 in 2019. The number of the death of students accounts for 16.29 per cent of the 34,478 people who died in traffic accidents in the period. The organisation says that the percentage of the death of students in road accidents is alarming, noting that 53 per cent of the student victims were aged between 18 and 25 years and 47 per cent between 5 and 17 years. Almost a half, or 49.52 per cent, of the students died in accidents that involved motorcycles, 27.3 per cent after being hit or run over by vehicles, 12.83 per cent were vehicle passengers, 8.84 per cent were bicycle riders and 1.49 per cent of the students ran into accidents after their scarves got tangled in vehicle wheels.
The report further says that the highest of the accidents, 29.38 per cent, occurred on regional highways, 26.44 per cent on urban roads, 23.82 per cent on rural roads and 20.3 per cent on national highways. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, or the government for that matter, always appears averse to such reports carried out by private organisations, trying to set them aside as meaningless, flawed and inaccurate. It also insists that such organisations should, rather, discuss their findings with the public agencies rather than making them public on their own. But what the government or its agencies responsible for road safety misses out is that it could very well work on the data such private organisations gather and draw up a comprehensive plan to ensure road safety. The findings show that regional and national highways and urban and rural roads are largely equally responsible for road accidents. This suggests there are problems either with the road regime or road construction, or even both, that cause the accidents. While more than a half of the accidents having involved motorcycle suggest that motorcyclists are reckless and the government is not mindful enough to motorcycle riding. A quarter of the accidents having happened because vehicles bump against or run over other vehicles or pedestrians suggests that road regime is, in fact, in a bad shape.
The report lists flawed road design, unfit vehicles, rule violation, an absence of safety campaigns, rash driving and corruption as major reasons for poor road regime. The government must, in such a situation, not find fault with reports of road safety organisations and must, rather, take private accident research data seriously to make roads safe.