458 road accidents kill 416, injure 629 in July: RSF
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Road accidents across the country claimed 416 lives and injured 629 people in 458 separate incidents during July.
Road Safety Foundation (RSF) confirmed the matter in a monthly report on Thursday. The report said the deceased included 57 women and 48 children.
Among the fatalities, 138 people died in 159 motorcycle accidents, accounting for 33.17 percent of the total deaths, with the motorcycle accident rate standing at 34.71 percent.
Moreover, 106 pedestrians were killed, representing 25.48 percent of total fatalities, while 51 drivers and assistants lost their lives, making up 12.25 percent.
During this same period, 13 waterway accidents claimed 9 lives and left 11 people injured, while 29 railway track accidents caused 24 deaths and 18 injuries.
RSF compiled the report based on data from 9 national dailies, 17 national and regional online news portals, various electronic media, and its own information. Vehicle-based fatality statistics show that 138 motorcycle drivers and passengers were killed, making up 33.17 percent of total deaths.
Other victims included 21 bus passengers, 19 truck-covered van-pickup-trolley passengers, 7 microbus-ambulance passengers, 94 three-wheeler passengers (including auto-rickshaws, auto-vans, easy-bikes, CNGs, and Mishuks), 26 passengers of locally made vehicles (such as Nasimons, Bhotbhotis, and Pakhi-vans), and 5 rickshaw-bicycle riders.
Analysis by the RSF reveals that 169 accidents occurred on national highways, 155 on regional roads, 61 on rural roads, 66 on urban roads, and 7 in other locations.
Regarding the nature of these incidents, 123 were head-on collisions, 164 occurred after losing control, 108 involved running over or hitting pedestrians, 54 were rear-end collisions, and 9 occurred for other reasons.
The vehicles involved included trucks-covered vans-pickups-tractors-trolleys-lorries-dump trucks-garbage trucks at 22.50 percent, passenger buses at 17.44 percent, microbuses-private cars-ambulances-jeeps at 2.95 percent, and motorcycles at 24.19 percent.
Moreover, three-wheelers (including auto-rickshaws, auto-vans, easy-bikes, CNGs, Mishuks, and Legunas) accounted for 18.42 percent, while locally made vehicles (such as Nasimons, Bhotbhotis, Alamsadhus, Pakhi-vans, Tomtoms, and Mahindras) were involved in 7.31 percent of cases, with rickshaw-bicycles at 1.82 percent and unidentified vehicles at 5.34 percent.
An examination of the 711 vehicles involved shows that motorcycles were the most frequent victims with 172 incidents, followed by 131 three-wheelers, 124 buses, and trucks as the third highest at 92.
Division-wise data indicates that the Dhaka division recorded the highest number of accidents at 29.03 percent and the highest fatalities at 30.04 percent. Chattogram division followed with 21.61 percent of accidents and 19.23 percent of deaths.
RSF said 125 people died in 133 accidents in the Dhaka division, while the Barishal division recorded the lowest figures with 24 deaths in 28 accidents. In Dhaka city, 18 people were killed and 47 injured in 34 accidents.
