475 Dead in 452 Road Accidents in October

The findings were presented by Samity General Secretary Mohammad Mozammel Haque Chowdhury at a press conference in Dhaka on Saturday.

The report also highlighted a significant number of incidents beyond road accidents. There were 63 railway accidents, claiming 76 lives and leaving 24 injured. On waterways, 19 accidents resulted in 24 deaths, 36 injuries, and 9 people going missing.

Motorcycle accidents were particularly deadly, contributing to 163 fatalities (34.31% of total deaths) and 239 injuries (29.32% of all injuries). With 138 motorcycle accidents recorded, motorcycles accounted for 30.53% of all accidents.

The report further noted that those who lost their lives in October's accidents included 10 members of law enforcement, 124 drivers, 117 pedestrians, 32 transport workers, 49 students, 15 teachers, 58 women, 51 children, and 16 political figures, among others.

A total of 631 vehicles were involved in the accidents, with motorcycles making up 24.41% of the vehicles involved, followed by trucks, pickups, and covered vans (22.50%), buses (18.54%), and battery-run rickshaws and easy-bikes (17.91%). Other vehicles, including CNG-run auto rickshaws and various types of tractors, also played a role in the accidents.

The report also indicated that the majority of road crashes occurred on national highways (38.29%), followed by regional highways (30.39%) and feeder roads (24.62%).

Jatri Kalyan Samity's report stands in stark contrast to September's figures, which showed 493 accidents, resulting in 498 deaths and 978 injuries. The rising number of fatalities underlines the ongoing road safety challenges facing the country.