408 died on the roads in May
A total of 408 individuals lost their lives and 631 sustained injuries in 491 road accidents across various parts of the country in May, said a report.
The report released by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) also highlighted that out of the total fatalities, 67 were women and 78 were children.
The report further revealed that motorcycle accidents accounted for a significant portion of the deaths, with 141 individuals losing their lives in 156 such incidents, representing 34.55 percent of the total fatalities.
Additionally, 104 pedestrians were killed in accidents, accounting for 25.49 percent of the total casualties.
The RSF compiled the report based on information gathered from nine national dailies, seven online news portals, and electronic media sources.
72 drivers and their assistants also lost their lives in road accidents last month, constituting 17.64 percent of the overall fatalities.
According to the report, 36 individuals riding trucks, covered-vans, pickups, tractors, trolleys, lorries, and tankers suffered fatal accidents. 18 individuals in private cars, microbuses, and ambulances died during this time.
The report said 68 passengers of three-wheelers (easy bike, auto-rickshaw, mishuk) lost their lives in May and 15 individuals were killed in accidents involving locally modified vehicles (Nosimon-Karimon-Mahindra-Brickbhanga machine cars).
20 individuals were killed in accidents involving bicycle-rickshaw-rickshaw vans.
According to RSF, 165 accidents occurred on national highways, 201 accidents on regional roads, 73 accidents on rural roads, 48 accidents on urban roads, and 4 accidents took place in other locations.
Furthermore, during the same period, six boat accidents resulted in the death of four individuals, with two others reported missing. In addition, 25 railway accidents claimed the lives of 23 people, while injuring six, according to the press release.
The report highlighted various causes behind these accidents, including defective vehicles, reckless speed and driving, inefficiency, physical and mental illnesses, non-fixed pay and working hours, low-speed vehicular traffic on highways, reckless motorcycle riding by youth, public ignorance and noncompliance with traffic laws.
To address these pressing issues, the RSF proposed several recommendations.
They emphasised the need to increase efforts to develop skilled drivers, establish clear guidelines for drivers' payment and working hours, enhance the capacity of the BRTA, ensure strict enforcement of traffic laws for transport operators, passengers, and pedestrians, construct separate side roads (service roads) for low-speed vehicles on highways, gradually install road dividers on all highways, eliminate extortion in public transport, improve railway and waterway systems to alleviate road congestion, and develop and implement sustainable transport strategies.
Additionally, they urged the unhindered implementation of the "Road Transport Act-2018."
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