Road crashes claim 524 lives in June

As many as 524 people including 73 children were killed and 821 others injured in 467 road accidents across the country in June.

Of these, 204 people died in motorbike accidents alone during this period, which is 38.93 per cent of the total fatalities, Road Safety Foundation said in its latest report released on Monday.

Besides, 107 pedestrians, 86 drivers and their assistants were killed in the accidents .

On the other hand, waterways accidents claimed at least nine lives with 16 injuries. Besides,16 were killed and four injured in train accidents across Bangladesh last month.

Road Safety Foundation prepared the report based on the reports of nine national dailies, seven online news portals and electronic media.

Of the total accident, 159 accidents occurred on the national highways, 174 on regional roads, 72 on rural roads, 56 on city roads and six in other places, said the report.

According to the report, 25.05 per cent accidents occurred in Dhaka division, 15.41 per cent in Rajshahi, 16.48 per cent in Chattogram, 14.34 per cent in Khulna, 9 per cent in Barishal, 2.78 per cent in Sylhet, 10.49 per cent in Rangpur and 6.42 per cent in Mymensingh divisions.

The highest number of accidents recorded in Dhaka division as 139 people died in 117 accidents while 14 people died in 13 accidents in Sylhet division, which is the lowest compared to other divisions, said the report.

The RSF pointed out several major reasons behind the increasing trend of road accidents.

The reasons include - faulty vehicles; reckless driving; desperate mentality, incompetence and illness of drivers; unsettled wages and working hours; prevalence of low-speed traffic on highways; reckless motorcycling by the youth; the tendency of flouting traffic rules, poor management of traffic; lack of efficiency of the BRTA; and extortion in the sector.