FIGURES on traffic accidents paint a bleak picture of systemic negligence and unchecked chaos on the road. The October report of the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh reports at least 469 deaths and 1,280 injuries in 469 accidents, which breaks down to an average of 15 deaths and more than 40 injuries each day. The report shows that motorcycles remain the single most dangerous mode of transport, accounting for more than a third of all deaths in such accidents, with 176 fatalities in 170 accidents. The situation is not limited to roads alone. Fifty-two railway accidents killed 47 people and injured 30 while 11 waterway accidents killed 12, with one having gone missing. Among the victims were 147 transport workers who included drivers, 99 pedestrians, 35 students and 6 law enforcers. The Dhaka division recorded the highest toll, with 130 deaths and 343 injuries while Mymensingh saw the fewest accidents. Nearly a half of all accidents occurred on highways and more than a quarter resulted from vehicles bumping into roadside structures, suggesting a poor road design and rash driving. The association has urged authorities to regulate CNG- and battery-run rickshaws to curb the train of death.
What is evident in the reports is not a discovery but a deepening crisis rooted in neglect. Month after month, data from multiple agencies, public and private, confirm the same causes: reckless driving, poorly designed road, the absence of signage and the coexistence of slow and fast vehicles. Yet, little appears to have changed in either enforcement or policy. The Road Safety Foundation鈥檚 recent identification of at least 314 upazilas and urban areas as accident-prone, with 21 ranked as high-risk, highlights a failure of the government, rather than a mere administrative gap. Dhaka, Gazipur, Tangail, Madaripur and Chattogram remain persistently dangerous, not because the risks are unknown, but because institutional will remains weak. The recurrent findings point to a chronic cycle of reporting without remedy. The government and the agencies concerned have for long been aware of the design flaws, lack of signage and poor oversight that make the highways deadly. Yet recommendations, such as formulating a safe and sustainable transport strategy, have not been translated into action. The persistence of preventable death shows not just infrastructural failure but a systemic indifference to public safety, where road accidents have become an accepted, monthly statistic rather than a national emergency.
The persistence of such preventable disasters calls for more than perfunctory pledges and data collection. What is urgently needed is a coordinated national response that enforces accountability across transport authorities, law enforcement and the local administration. Road safety cannot remain a matter of periodic reports. It must be treated as a governance priority, demanding sustained political will, investment and a culture of responsibility on and off the road.