Shawdesh Desk:

As many as 467 people died and 672 injured in 541 road accidents across the country in November this year, according to data compiled by the Road Safety Foundation.

Road Safety Foundation, a non-government organisation, prepared the report based on information from nine national dailies, seven online news portals, and electronic media, according to a press release.

Among the victims killed in road accidents, 207 (38.75 per cent) were motorcyclists; eight (1.71 per cent) were bus passengers; 20 (4.28 per cent) were riders of trucks, covered vans, pickups; 13 (2.78 per cent) were riders of private cars, microbuses, ambulances, jeeps, 106 (22.69 per cent) were riders of three-wheelers like CNG, easybikes, and autorickshaws, 14 (2.99 per cent) were riders of locally-made vehicles nasiman-kariman, and 19 (4.06 per cent) were riders of bicycles-paddle rickshaws and rickshaw vans.

According to the Road Safety Foundation’s analysis, 187 (34.56 per cent) accidents occurred on national highways, 232 (42.88 per cent) on regional roads, 81 (14.97 per cent) on rural roads, 33 (6.09 per cent) on urban roads, and 8 (1.47 per cent) in other places.

The report reveals that in November, Dhaka division saw the highest number of accidents, with 138 reported accidents resulting in 119 fatalities. Sylhet division recorded the lowest number of accidents, with just 21, while the division had also the lowest number of fatalities, totaling 16.

At least 20 people were killed and 31 were injured in 26 accidents in the capital city Dhaka, Road Safety Foundation data shows.

The organisation identified several factors contributing to the high number of casualties on the country’s roads, including, reckless driving, slow-moving vehicles on highways, absence of fixed pay and working hours for drivers, inadequate traffic management, limited capacity of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, and prevalence of extortion within the public transport sector.

According to the Road Safety Foundation, 421 lives were lost in 458 road accidents across the country in October.