438 killed in road accidents in June, most deaths on motorcycles

These details were highlighted in the monthly report published by the Road Safety Foundation on Saturday. The report was prepared based on information from 9 national dailies, 17 national and regional online news outlets, various electronic media, and the organization's own data.

According to the report, 134 people were killed in 145 motorcycle accidents in June, accounting for 30.59 percent of the total deaths. Additionally, 91 pedestrians (20.77 percent) and 57 drivers and assistants (13 percent) lost their lives.

During the same period, 7 people were killed and 4 injured in 9 maritime accidents. Furthermore, 18 people were killed and 7 injured in 21 railway accidents.

A location-based analysis shows that accidents occurred on 151 national highways, 194 regional roads, 64 rural roads, 57 city roads, and 6 other locations. Among the accidents, 206 were due to loss of control, 109 were head-on collisions, 97 involved running over or hitting pedestrians, and 53 were rear-end collisions.

A total of 713 vehicles were involved in various accidents in June. Among these were 157 motorcycles, 141 three-wheelers, 116 buses, and 107 trucks.

In terms of time, the highest number of accidents occurred in the morning, accounting for 31.35 percent of the total. This was followed by night (19.27 percent), noon (17.58 percent), afternoon (14.19 percent), evening (11.44 percent), and dawn (6.14 percent).

In divisional statistics, the Dhaka division recorded the highest number of fatalities, with 118 people killed in 116 accidents. This was followed by the Chattogram division with 113 deaths and the Rajshahi division with 77 deaths. The fewest accidents occurred in the Mymensingh division, where 16 people were killed in 19 accidents. In the capital Dhaka, 24 people were killed and 49 injured in 32 accidents.

Among the deceased were 58 students, 24 businessmen, 21 political activists, 19 sales representatives, 17 NGO workers, 13 bank and insurance officials and employees, and people from various other professions.

The Road Safety Foundation states that faulty vehicles and roads, excessive speed, driver incompetence, violation of traffic laws, weak traffic management, slow-moving vehicles on highways, and reckless motorcycle riding by young people are the main causes of road accidents. The organization has called for prompt and effective solutions to these problems to ensure road safety.