Govt records show small fraction of death on roads
Over 20,000 people die in road accidents every year in Bangladesh, but government records reflect only a small fraction of it, said Salim Mahmud Chowdhury, director of Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh (CIPRB), yesterday.
Road traffic injury is a leading cause behind death of people globally, he said, adding that their research shows it is the second leading cause of injury-related mortality among all populations in Bangladesh.
Talking to The Daily Star during the closing ceremony of a weeklong programme arranged by CIPRB in Banani marking United Nations’ Global Road Safety Week, he said according to CIPRB data, an estimated 23,000 people die from road accidents annually in Bangladesh. World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated the number of road crash casualties in Bangladesh as 24,954 in 2016, he said.
“The number of annual deaths from road traffic injury varies in different reports. However, road accident deaths as per First Information Reports [FIR] of police puts the number between 2,500 and 3,500.”
He said motorcyclists and passengers and drivers of buses are among the most vulnerable to road accidents in Bangladesh. About 63 percent of all registered vehicles in Bangladesh are motorcycles, which is a road safety concern, especially in Dhaka city, he said.
Marking road safety week, CIPRB arranged the informal gathering of traffic police officials, distribution of awareness-raising leaflets, and a “first responder training” for rover scouts of BAF Shaheen College.
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