Fatal road crashes have been on the rise in Bangladesh over the seven years since students erupted in massive protests after two college students died as a bus rammed them to a wall in the capital on July 29, 2018.
Instead of going down as per a target of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, the number of road crash deaths has rather been increasing over time amid an anarchic situation in the country鈥檚 road transport sector, show official data.
After the then Awami League-led government failed to reduce the number of road crashes since 2011 under the first Decade of Action for Road Safety, launched by the UN in 2011, the same government took initiatives to achieve the SDG Number 3.6 to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030.
As per government data, 2,546 people were killed in road accidents in 2011 while the figure was 3,918 in 2020 and 5,480 in 2024.
Road safety experts said that the authorities must identify the real reasons behind the fatal accidents and take preventive measures to reduce road crashes.
To tackle the situation, the interim government on July 20 this year started a countrywide drive against over 80,000 buses and trucks, which have gone past their economic life.
Leaders of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners-Workers Coordination Council on Sunday announced a 72-hour countrywide strike from August 12 for all commercial vehicles, including buses and goods-carrying vehicles to demand the extension of the economic lives of buses and trucks.
The adviser for the road transport and bridges ministry, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, told 抖阴精品 on Monday that they took some initiatives to cut the number of road crashes.
鈥楾he movement of vehicles that have gone past their economic life on roads is a big reason behind road crashes and we have started a drive against such vehicles,鈥� he said.
Replying to a question, he said that if the owners and workers start strike they聽 would try to solve the matter by discussion.
鈥業t is true that we did not move in the pace the way we should have to ensure safety on roads,鈥� the adviser added.
Thousands of students in 2018 took to the streets after their two fellow students were killed when a reckless driver drove a Jabal-e-Noor company bus off the road and ploughed through a crowd in front of Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka while competing with another bus of the same company.
Two students of the city鈥檚 Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College 鈥� class XI student Diya Khanam Mim, 17, and class XII student Abdul Karim Rajib, 19 鈥� were killed and 12 others injured in the incident.
The killings sparked countrywide protests, with students demanding the highest punishment for the bus drivers responsible for the killings and taking measures for the safe movement of students.
They also demanded a strict monitoring of unfit vehicles, unlicensed drivers, and a ban on extra passengers on public transports. The demands of students remained largely unmet.
The government in September 2018 passed the Road Transport Act, 2018 following student protests.
According to the Bangladesh Police, the number of people killed in road crashes in 2019 was 2,635, in 2020 was 3,918; in 2021 was 5,088; and in 2022 was 4,636.
Since 2023, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority has started compiling the official road crash. According to the authority, 5,024 people were killed in 2023; 5,480 in 2024 and 2,943 till June this year.
Contradicting the BRTA data, Road Safety Foundation figures show that the number of people killed in road crashes was 5,211 in 2019; 5,431 in 2020; 6,284 in 2021; 7,723 in 2022; 6,524 in 2023, 7,294 in 2024 and 3,662 till June this year.
The foundation is a non-governmental body that prepares road crash statistics from media reports.
The World Health Organisation estimated the road traffic fatalities in Bangladesh at 21,316 in 2015, at 24,944 in 2018, and at 31,578 in 2021.
The government had taken initiatives to reduce road crashes since 2011, including amending laws and making recommendations, under the first Decade of Action for Road Safety by the UN in 2011 that concluded in 2020. After failing to achieve that goal, the government took initiatives to achieve the SDG Number 3.6 to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030.
Under the 9th National Road Safety Strategic Action Plan for 2021鈥�2024, the BRTA later took a goal to reduce the road accident fatalities and injuries by 20 to 25 per cent by 2024 and by 50 per cent by 2030.
Professor Md Shamsul Hoque, director of the Accident Research Institute under the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said that the road transport agency should first identify the real reasons behind the accidents and then take actions.
鈥榃ithout the accurate medicine the disease cannot be treated,鈥� he said, alleging that the authority lacked professionalism.
He also said that the police should also strengthen its monitoring and enforcement on roads.
According to BRTA statistics, till May this year a total of 85,198 buses and minibuses and 2,14,445 trucks, covered vans, and tankers were registered under it since the entity started its operations in 1988. The authority still has no data on the phased-out vehicles registered under it.
Out of these registered vehicles, 39,169 buses and minibuses are older than 20 years while 41,140 trucks, covered vans, and tankers are older than 25 years across the country, BRTA officials said.
Under the ongoing countrywide drive, between July 20 and 27, the authorities filed a total of 2,030 cases, dumped 38 buses, and realised Tk47.32 lakh in fine.
