At least 611 students were killed in road crashes in six months till June this year, according to the Bangladesh Road Safety Foundation.

As high as 53% of the victims studied at college and university levels, the organisation said while revealing a report at a press conference in Dhaka on Saturday.

Road accidents claimed the lives of 5,619 students from 2019 to June 2024, and the figure is 16.29% of total fatalities (34,478), the report said.

Faulty roads and unsafe vehicles, lack of knowledge about the safe use of roads and motivational training on road safety in educational institutions, lack of awareness campaigns in the media, the tendency to ride motorcycles recklessly among students, lack of knowledge about traffic rules, and tendency to not obey the law were among the reasons of deaths, the organisation said.

The foundation made several recommendations to stop road accidents. Those are – organising a campaign on road safety in educational institutions once a year, providing training to teachers under the government initiative, including questions on road safety in class tests, stopping plying unsafe vehicles on roads, and ensuring strict enforcement of laws to prevent minors from riding motorcycles.