Most accidents in Feb involved bikes

Road accidents claimed ten lives each day and motorcycles were involved in the highest number of accidents in February this year, according to the Road Safety wing of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).

A total of 308 road accidents occurred across the country and among them, motorcycles were involved in 102 incidents, trucks in 83 incidents grabbing the second position and buses in 74 incidents taking the third place, stated monthly data compiled by the road transport regulatory agency.

The BRTA prepared the monthly data through all divisional offices which collected information from its district offices coordinating with police, hospitals and local administration which was released on Tuesday.

The data showed that a total of 455 vehicles were involved in road crashes across the country claiming 303 lives and leaving 416 others injured while electric bikes were not involved in any kind of causalities.

Dhaka division topped the list of accidents and causalities followed by the port city Chiattogram. In Dhaka, 78 people died and 72 were injured in 89 road accidents and 66 people died and 138 others sustained injuries in 71 incidents in Chittagong. Besides, at least 55 people were killed and 48 injured in 42 road accidents in Rajshahi division, 35 were killed and 70 injured in 37 road accidents in Khulna division, 15 killed and 64 injured in 19 road accidents in Barisal division, 17 were killed and 12 injured in 12 road accidents in Sylhet division, 25 killed and 9 injured in 26 road accidents in Rangpur division, 12 killed and 3 injured in 12 road accidents in Mymensingh division.

Twenty private cars, 74 buses, 17 pickups, 20 CNG-run auto-rickshaws, 83 trucks, 102 motorcycles, 15 battery-run auto rickshaws, 18 easy bikes, 12 tractors, two ambulances, 10 vans, seven microbuses and 75 other kinds of vehicles were directly involved with the road crashes.

Meanwhile, 333 people were killed and 226 sustained injuries in 322 road accidents across the country in January.

According to experts, some of the many reasons behind the increasing number of traffic accidents include reckless driving, forced overtaking, breaking traffic laws, illegal and dangerous competition, long-term driving without a break, incompetency of the driver, hazardous roads, careless bike riding, an ineffective traffic management system and a lack of public awareness.