Although a huge network of roads has been developed across the country, including in villages, lack of discipline and modern traffic management allows unsafe vehicles such as easy bikes, Nasimon, Bhatbhati and Alamsadhu to ply regional roads and highways, significantly contributing to road accidents.

Besides, accidents are happening due to reckless speeding, lack of coordinated measures of the authorities concerned and lack of awareness, said experts.

At least six people were killed in road accidents in Tangail, Gazipur, Madaripur and Narayanganj districts on Saturday night and Sunday. On Saturday morning, a woman and her son died in a road accident in Tangail, when a bus coming from the opposite direction hit the motorcycle by which they were travelling. On the previous day, seven people, including three of a family, were killed when a bus rammed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Mymensingh. In total, 16 people died on the road on Friday.

“Most of the victims of road accidents are poor and middle-class people and almost always the only breadwinner in the family."

- Saidur Rahman, Chief Executive, Road Safety Foundation.

Md Shamsul Haque, director of the Accident Research Institute of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), told the Daily Sun, “To prevent accidents, the chaos on the road should be reduced. The chaos on the roads is increasing because the kind of planning needed for reducing irregularities is not done and the required laws are not being implemented. As a result, accidents are not coming under control.”

Small vehicles, especially motorcycles, are one of the factors that create chaos on the roads. He said these vehicles are creating danger on the roads, so their movement should be controlled.

“At the same time, the speed of all vehicles should be controlled. There is no alternative to road safety. The Road Transport Act has been passed. Those who are responsible for implementing it are not doing it,” he added.

“We cannot control the way road accidents are increasing in Bangladesh. This is happening due to lack of concerted actions and lack of awareness.”

- Obaidul Quader, Road Transport and Bridges Minister

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said in a press conference at Setu Bhaban on 7 February, “We cannot control the way road accidents are increasing in Bangladesh. This is happening due to lack of concerted actions and lack of awareness.”

An analysis by the Road Safety Foundation showed that there were 6,911 road accidents in the country in 2023. Among them, head-on collisions accounted for 18.68%, loss of control 45.56%, hitting pedestrians 20.92%, rear-end vehicle collisions 11.82%, and other causes 3%.

Saidur Rahman, chief executive of the Road Safety Foundation, told the Daily Sun, “Most of the victims of road accidents are poor and middle-class people and almost always the only breadwinner in the family. Lower- and middle-class families are devastated by the loss of income due to the death of this earner and for selling their belongings to treat the injured member in the accident.

“Even worse is the condition of those who remain crippled even after treatment. Due to road accidents, many families are in danger of being lost from the mainstream of the social economy. This is creating a socio-economic crisis in the country.”

According to an estimation prepared by BUET’s Accident Research Institute, the financial loss due to road accidents in the three years from 2018 to 2021 was about Tk1.9 lakh crore.

According to an estimation of the Road Safety Foundation, the losses in road accidents in 2023 amounted to Tk16,910 crore.