Staff Reporter :
In spite of the government’s various preparations to ensure a safe Eid journey, fatalities in road accidents increased by 20.19pc compared to the last Eid, the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) disclosed it on Wednesday.
A report by the organisation analysing road accident data during the 15-day period from April4 to April18 found that compared to 2023, road accidents increased by 39.20pc and fatalities by 20.19pc.
The report, presented at a press conference in the organisation’s Dhanmondi office, shows that 367 people were killed in 358 road accidents during the 15 days of this year’s Eid journey.
As per the data, 240 road accidents claimed the lives of 285 people during Eid journey last year.
However, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said the number of accidents has not increased compared to last year, but the number of deaths has.
At a press conference on Sunday, BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder mentioned that last year, 253 road accidents occurred during the 15 days of Eid, resulting in 239 deaths and 510 injuries.
In its report, the Road Safety Foundation also said that motorcycle accidents claimed the lives of most of the people during the Eid journey.
More than 1,500 people were injured in these accidents, the report said.
The report was prepared based on information gathered from 9 national dailies, 7 online news portals, electronic media, and the organisation’s own data.
Defective vehicles, reckless driving and such others factors were identified for the increasing road accidents.
It also identified incompetence and physical and mental illness of drivers, their irregular working hours, low-speed vehicles (three-wheelers) on highways, inadequate traffic management, public ignorance and disobedience of traffic laws were mentioned as the major causes of accidents.
The Road Safety Foundation put forward a set of recommendations including intensifying efforts to create skilled drivers, ensuring that drivers have fixed pay and working hours, enhancing the capacity of BRTA, establishing service roads for low-speed vehicles on highways and implementing technology to regulate vehicle rapidity.
