210 accidents, 265 deaths in 12 days

At least 265 people were killed and 1,153 others injured in 210 accidents on roads, waterways and railways across the country in 12 days from September 7, including the Eid-ul-Azha holidays, according to a report.

The number of road crashes and deaths on highways during this year's Eid holidays is the highest in last three years, it said.

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Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, a passengers' welfare association, made public the report at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday. The report titled “Eid Journey Accident Report-2016” was prepared on the basis of media reports.

Between September 7 and September 18, a total of 248 people were killed and 1,056 others injured in 193 road accidents across the country, the report said.

According to the report, 186 people were killed and 746 suffered injuries in 121 road crashes during this year's Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

Last year, the number of accidents during Eid-ul-Fitr holidays was 109 in which 122 lives perished. Eighty-seven accidents took place during Eid-ul-Azha holidays in which 107 people were killed that year.

Ninety-eight people lost their lives in 77 road accidents during Eid-ul-Fitr holidays in 2014, and 78 people died in 56 road crashes during the Eid-ul-Azha holidays the same year.

“Commonly, a bus at speed overtakes a slow-moving vehicle on a highway. But when overtaking becomes frequent, bus drivers forget to take precautionary measures. Thus accidents happen,” said Kazi Md Shifun Newaz, assistant professor of the Accident Research Institute at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

Had there been separate service roads for slow-moving vehicles, the number of accidents would have been much less, Newaz said at the conference.

Bus drivers often race each other to reach destinations within the shortest possible time, which also causes accidents, he said.

Newaz suggested bringing bus operators under a single platform to refrain drivers from overtaking.

Mozammel Haq Chowdhury, secretary general of the association, presented the report at the press conference.

Of 193 road crashes, 72 were head-on collisions between vehicles in which 112 people were killed and 557 others injured. Twenty-nine were killed in incidents of buses running over people, he said.

Thirty-four people died and 264 others were injured after vehicles veered off the roads and fell into ditches, Mozammel said.

Ten people were killed and 30 others injured in eight accidents in waterways. Seven people were crushed under the wheels of trains and over 50 others suffered injuries as they fell from the roof of moving trains, he added.

“As roads are being repaired and developed, many city dwellers go to their homes in private cars, which is one of the major reasons for higher number of accidents. Many car drivers have no experience of driving on highways,” he said.

Apart from risky overtaking and reckless driving, the association found absence of central reservations on roads, breaching traffic rules, unskilled drivers, faulty roads, lack of awareness among passengers, overloading and unfit vehicles as the major reasons for the accidents.

It also recommended separate lane for slow-moving vehicles, keeping provisions for stern punishment in the proposed Road Transport Act, regular audit on road safety, setting up of medians, increasing the number of trained drivers, introducing separate police unit to investigate road accidents, checking overloading and examining vehicles' fitness to minimise the number of accidents.