Dhaka Bureau: According to a report by the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association, 328 people were killed and 565 injured in 304 road accidents on the country’s highways during the Holy Eid-ul-Fitr. A total of 355 people were killed and 620 injured in 341 accidents on roads, rails, and waterways.
On Tuesday (May 2) morning in the city’s Segunbagicha, in a press conference at the Bangladesh Shishukalyan Parishad auditorium, the Secretary General of the organization spoke. Mozammel Haque Chowdhury presented this information. The road accident monitoring cell of the organization prepares the report every year. The organization has been monitoring the issue of Eid trip road accidents, extra fare collection, and passenger harassment for more than a century, as road accidents related to Eid increase at an alarming rate every year.
According to the report, 30 percent of people have traveled less than the target due to various reasons, including an increase in commodity prices, an abnormal increase in transportation costs, and excessive heat. Due to the continuous development of the current government in the last 14 years, the condition of the country’s roads and highways is much better than before. This is the benefit of extending the Eid holiday by one day. Apart from this, due to the free movement of motorcycles on all the roads of the country as well as on Padma Setu, 18.2 percent of the total passengers travel on motorcycles due to the strict monitoring of various regulatory agencies of the government and the law enforcement forces. Because of this, in addition to the reduction in suffering, road accidents have decreased by 18.2 percent and fatalities by 21.1 percent.
328 people were killed and 565 injured in 304 road accidents in the last 15 days, from the start of the Eid trip on April 15 to the end of the day on April 29. If compared to the Eid-ul-Fitr travel of last year, 2022, this Eid road accident has decreased by 18.2 percent, fatalities by 21.1 percent, and injuries by 30 percent. Besides, two people were killed and 55 injured in 27 incidents on the railway during the mentioned period. Five people were killed and 22 are missing in 10 accidents on the waterway.
According to the report, as always, motorcycles are at the top of the list of accidents. 167 people were killed and 120 injured in 165 motorcycle accidents this Eid. Which is 54.3 percent of total road accidents, 51 percent of fatalities, and 21 percent of injuries. At this time, 88 drivers, 16 transport workers, 42 pedestrians, 480 children, 17 students, 1 journalist, 5 law enforcement officers, 4 teachers, 5 leaders and activists of various political parties, and 32 brave freedom fighters have been identified. The members of the Road Accident Monitoring Cell of the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association have prepared this report by monitoring the news published in widely circulated and credible national dailies, regional dailies, and online dailies.
According to the analysis of organized accidents, 36.9 percent of the total vehicles were motorcycles, 16.5 percent were trucks-pickup-vans, 5.6 percent were cars-micro-jeeps, 4.6 percent were Nachiman-Kariman tractors-Laguna Mahida, 6.7 percent were autorickshaws, 12.8 percent were battery rickshaws-easybike-van cycles, and 16.9 percent were buses. Among them, 26 percent of organized accidents were head-on collisions, 37.2 percent were pedestrians hit by vehicles, 20.4 percent were due to loss of control, and 16.4 percent were accidents due to other unknown reasons.
