Road accident report

Road Accident in Highways and Inside Dhaka City Page 1

United International University

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1.0 Introduction

Safe, sound and sustainable mobility is one of the fundamental necessities of human being.

Unfortunately, mobility or transport is become a ‘global tragedy’ with ever-rising trend and

represent a major cause of premature deaths and disabilities worldwide. Road trauma has now

been recognized as one of the significant diseases of industrial societies and is an increasing

public health and economic issue in developing countries like Bangladesh. According to

police statistics, there are about 4,000 deaths and many more serious injuries each year on

roads in Bangladesh. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and those using informal transport

including the bus and truck passengers are the most vulnerable road user group contributing

almost 80 percent of road fatalities. Road accident and injuries are now a growing and serious

problem in Bangladesh and the safety situation is very severe by international standard.

Although Bangladesh is one of the lowest motorized countries (motorization level 2.3) in the

world, it has, however, the worst road fatality rates in the Asia-Pacific region.

Developing countries are now experiencing a serious road safety crisis. Like many other

developing countries Bangladesh is experiencing a very severe road safety problem. The state

of the Dhaka’s traffic does not require elaboration since the commuter gets their firsthand

experience every day, even on weekly holiday. However, injury and fatality rates per 100,000

populations have been increasing constantly and the fatality rate per 100,000 vehicles has

increased significantly in the past 10 years in Dhaka Metropolitan Area. It is not Dhaka alone,

the number of deaths on highways has also gone up in recent years. About 70 percent of road

accident fatalities occurred in rural areas including rural sections of national highways.

Several studies (Hoque, 1986; Hoque et al., 2006) dealt with the traffic safety problem of the

city and also of national highways, but very rarely research has been conducted to examine

the comparative severity of accident problem in these both sector. This paper aims to analyze

the ratio of the road accident in both highways and inside Dhaka city from a comparative and

relative perspective.



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2.0 Objective

This report was an opportunity to study on a practical situation of one of

the most distressed disaster in Bangladesh in recent days. Although the

report has a broader objective to proceed on, but this broader objective is

basically fragmented in some more specific objective. These are as

follows-

The status of the vulnerability of both sector-highway and inside

Dhaka city

Compare both sector to each other and identify the equality or

excessiveness of two sectors in terms of vulnerability

The variabilities of the vulnerability in both sector

The gap between adopted action steps and the antidote for the

variabilities of the vulnerability

Probable appropriate solution



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3.0 Methodology

Types and source- with regards of the availability of the

information I have used both primary and secondary data in all

aspect of the report. Most of the primary data are collected from

different sources, includes road accident victims, witness, drivers,

hospital officials etc. Secondary used in the report are taken from

the various research reports, web sites and news paper.

Analysis Plan- This report is basically analysis from both

comparative and relative perspective. It aims to identify the degree

of vulnerability of highways and inside Dhaka city in case of road

accident, whether the two sectors are equally vulnerable or one is

more than other one. In order to do that accurately the study has

first gathered the idea and data from conducted survey and then

took the logical back-up from previous researches. After that the

report has analyzed the gathered data from two perspectives both

comparative and relative. It has found out the similar vulnerable

criteria in two sectors and also found out the different criteria.



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4.0 Justification

The road accident has become the most obvious event in present days. Office goers, school

students, workers, pedestrian every morning people go out with this uncertainty that they

might not see the face of their dearest ones again. Sometime it may grant the life but breaks

the bone of the main earning person of the family and shatters the dream of that family. A

road accident is not just an accident; it’s like a curse for a family.

Once upon a time, there was a belief that road accident is the phenomena that happen only in

the foreign country. After that, few accidents in Bangladesh forced people to believe that road

accident can also take place in our country but only in big highways. Today is the time when

road accident is no longer restricted to one area by its characteristics. At present road

accidents status inside Dhaka city has achieved a neck to neck position in the competition

with highway accident. Now, almost every day we see the newspaper with blood colored

photos of the accident, among which highway and inside Dhaka city both comes in front.

Each year more than 500000 people die in road accidents around the world (Mannan and

Karim,1998). In Bangladesh fatality rates per 10,000 vehicles are about 86 persons (Ross,

1998). The safety problem is very severe by international standards with some 45 fatalities per

10000 motor vehicles in Bangladesh compared to 2.0 in the USA and 1.4 in UK, for example

(Hoque et al., 1997). In Bangladesh, the most scientific and modern research was conducted

by Hoque (1981 to 1991), which provide some important and factual information about the

extent and nature of accidents.

All these research works signify the severity and the increasing trend of the road accident in

Bangladesh. Some of the research has focused on highways individually or only on inside

Dhaka city. These researches help us to understand that both highways and inside Dhaka City

both sectors are vulnerable, but queries do not take full stop here. Despite of this fact, that



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road accident is obvious in both highways and inside Dhaka city, there is no such research or

statement that will inform us that which sector is more vulnerable among highways and inside

Dhaka city.

For this reason, I decided to find out the answer in this research. I decided to analyze the

researches on both sector and judge them with the present statistics and the victims/witness of

the road accident. The aim is to bring out a finding which will be based on practical scenario

and supportive researches. And the result will help to understand that among highways and

inside Dhaka city which one is more vulnerable or whether they are equally vulnerable or not.

This research is important because its not enough to know that road accident is increasing, or

it’s not enough to know why road accidents are happening.

Individual researches are done highlighting highways and inside Dhaka city individually. As a

result it is difficult for the government to implement the action steps in two sectors on the

priority basis. Once we will understand which sector is more vulnerable or both are equally

vulnerable we will be able to identify the variability by which the vulnerability varies or gets

equal. After that it will be easy to resolve the matter by implanting the prescribed action steps

against that variability.



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5.0 Limitation

This research paper was based on the road accidents in both national highways and inside

Dhaka city. It was aimed to find out the vulnerability of the road accident in both national

highways and inside Dhaka city from a relative as well as comparative perspective. At the

initial stage, it seemed that availability of the relevant information would not be very difficult

to find out as road accident has become a common phenomenon in recent days. In reality,

actual situation presented some different scenario. Although road accidents are taking place in

every day, but it was hard to process peoples’ understanding and get the data that report

needed. This is because road accidents are happening in both national highways and inside

Dhaka city almost every day on a regular basis. So, people get confused to judge which one is

more vulnerable. Along with this the report was forced to face some other problems, as such-

Peoples’ confusion to judge the vulnerability

Less availability of the recent secondary data

Analysis only on own ability

Limit the study into confined area where as the subject includes lot more thing



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6.0 Accident Statistics

Bangladesh is a very densely populated low lying country with 123 million inhabitants living

in an area of 147 570 sq. km. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, has a population of over

10 million with a growth rate of 8% per annum. Road transport plays an important role in

Bangladesh. It has achieved a significant growth in the road transport sector over the past

twenty years. Presently the length of roads is about 271,000 kilometers (km), including about

21,000 km of major roads; 2,835 route km of railways; 3,800 km of perennial waterways

(which increases to 6,000 km during the monsoon) and the ports of Mongla and Chittagong;

and three international airports (Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet) and eight domestic airports.

Road transport has turned out to be the most dominant mode in carriage of passenger and

freight traffic in recent years. The number of registered motor vehicles on road increased

steadily by 62% over the last decade from 3 39 448 in 1990 to 5 51 011 in 2000. The motor

vehicle composition on roads is characterized as motorcycles 46%,motor cars 14%; trucks

12%; baby taxis 12%;buses/minibuses 9%, and others 7%. Despite phenomenal growth in the

number of motor vehicles the country’s transport demand is still predominantly met by non-

motorized modes, particularly rickshaws and its level of motorization is far below the levels in

other Asian countries. The present number of rickshaws in Bangladesh could be in the order

of 8 00 000. To cater to the growing demand of road transport, the major road network

(national highways, regional roads and feeder roads) increased from 14 949 km to 21 174 km

in 2000. Pedestrians are involved in about 70% of road accidents.

Number of Registered Vehicles in Bangladesh up to June 2011

Figure 1: Number of registered Vehicles in Bangladesh up to 2011



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Source: http://www.brta.gov.bd/statistic/

Traffic Accident Trends in Bangladesh

Figure 2: Traffic accident trends in Bangladesh from1999 to 2008

Source:http://www.brta.gov.bd/statistic/



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Reported Traffic Accident Trends in Bangladesh

Figure 3: Reported Traffic Accident Trends in Bangladesh

source: Police Headquarters (FIR) Report

National Statistical trends in road accidents

Total number of Fatalities- 2646 (In 2010) [Source Police FIR)

Total number of Serious injuries-1389 (in 2010) [Source Police FIR)

Total number of road accidents – 2827 (in 2010) [Source Police FIR)

Pedestrian death (Total Pedestrians Death -1206 (in 2009) (Source : Police

MAAP5 Data)

Motorcyclist deaths (Not available)

Road accident death of children less than 5 years)-(Death -69(in 2009), Source :

Police MAAP5 Data)



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“Fleet Safety” records or public/private sector organization (detains/100,000 km)-

Not available

Accident type in Bangladesh

Most common accident types are

Hit pedestrian (45%),

Rear end collisions (16.5%),

Head on collisions (13.2%),

Overturning (9.3%)

Intensity of the Accident

Fatal 77 %, nearly 22 percent of all fatalities in Bangladesh and are 2.5 times higher than

the in industrialized countries

Grievous 16 percent, Simple 3 percent, Simple Collision type 4 percent

Demonstrates the prevalence of significant, Underreporting of Injury accidents.

Cause of accident in Bangladesh

Over-involvement of Trucks and Buses

Unskilled and less educated drivers

Illegal competition to overtake the vehicle

Reckless driving

Over- speeding

Over- Loading

Vehicular defects;

Lack of Knowledge and consciousness of the road users

Hazardous roads & road environments

Adverse road condition/(30%)

Lack of Training to the drivers

Lack of training of maintenance of vehicles

Poor implementation of Traffic rules & regulations

Driving under influence of alcohol, drugs etc.;

Poor utilization of helmets, seat belts etc.;

Walk on the roads instead of foot over bridge

Cross the road without using the foot over bridge

Using roads instead of using the footpath

The distribution of accidents according to road types

National Highways-38%

Regional Roads-12%

Feeder Roads-15%

Others-(Including City Streets)-

35%

6.1 Situation of Dhaka City

Road traffic accidents and the resulting deaths have now emerged as one of the major safety

and public health problems in urban areas all over the world. The combination of rapid



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urbanization and motorization has made the problem even severe for the developing cities of

Asia. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is no exception. Official statistics reveal that more

than fatalities and injuries occur annually due to traffic accidents in Dhaka city. It

demonstrates the burden and seriousness of the problem and emphasizes the need for strict

and comprehensive measures to prevent the unwanted and unnecessary loss of lives. In urban

areas, the traffic roadway system context is more complex where a mixed road user

environment prevails and greater perceptual and cognitive demands are placed on the road

users. The heterogeneity of traffic, modes of works with varying speed and maneuvering time

makes the cities like Dhaka even more complex.

6.2 Situation of National Highways

Almost 30 percent of total accidents on national highways are occurring only in 4 percent of

total kilometer age. Hazards associated with roads and roadsides were particularly

predominant. Adverse roadway elements contributing to highway accidents were substandard

road way alignment or geometry, lack of shoulders and shoulder defects, absent or

inappropriate pedestrian facilities, narrow and defective lanes and bridges/bridge approaches,

roadside hazards, undefined pavement centre and edge lines, poor sight distances and

visibility, unmarked and inappropriate design of intersections, serious delineation deficiencies

along the route, haphazard bus shelters/stops, and others. In many of these cases “running-off-

road” accidents involved vehicles leaving the carriageway and falling down the unprotected

steep drops into ditches, accounting for nearly 60 percent of total, “ running-off-road” and

“out-of-control” accidents. Roadside trees were involved in about 20 percent of these accident

types. Studies are underway at Accident Research Centre for identification and treatments of

hazardous road locations using standard definitions, criteria and methods together with field

observations so that the cost effective countermeasures particularly low cost countermeasures

can be devised for highway safety improvements.

7.0 Survey

Number of People

The survey was observed among 20 persons who provide their honest information about their

experience of road accident.

Target People to Survey



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The surveyed people were the road accident victims, witness, police official, hospital official

and some general public who also notice road accident through newspaper and television.

Number of question

The survey questionnaire included 12 questions and it was prepared with a concern to make

the survey simple and effective as much as possible.

Age group

To conduct the survey we have selected the people who are from 16 to above 60 years old.

Though children are also affected by road accident but a 16+ adult and matured person can

give a more clear and concrete thought rather than a below 16 adolescent.

The Education Level of the people of The Survey

This survey was not restricted in to any literacy level. This is because, most of the drivers are

under S.S.C level, on the other hand some highly educated person can be responsible for a

road accident. Besides, roads are open for both literate and illiterate people.

8.0 Data Analysis

The survey questionnaire includes 12 questions among which some questions are just to

initiate the interview; few questions are to instill the surveyed person into the situation and

few questions are to bring out the reality. In order to keep the report free from excessive

details here the analysis is focusing just on the few relevant questions and also some relevant

responses of the questionnaire.



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This survey was based on the subjective view of the people who are either victim or witness

of any road accident. So, in case of some questions the surveyed people have express their

view through more than one option. On the other hand in case of some questions, some

options got no or very few response. As a result, the sum of the percentage of responses will

not be equal to 100%. That is why, the analysis has ignored to express the ratio of responses

to the options, and in fact the following analysis has highlighted only some significant and

crucial questions as well some selected answer options.

Q. No. 1 How it happened/ what type of road accident it was?

Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ’Collision

with Bus’ by 35%. Rest of the two options got 2nd focus by 25% response among other

options. This question was intended to know the most obvious case or type of road accident in

people’s view. The responses explain that the most common type is “Collision with Bus”.

Along with this Hit pedestrian and sudden loss of control is also seen off and on. So, it can be

stated that bus is more involved in road accident as well as pedestrians are also not free from

faults.

Q. No. 2 In your point of view, who was the actual responsible for the accident/whom fault it was?

Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ’Opposite

Driver’ by 70%. 2nd focus is on “Passenger/Pedestrian” by 25% response and little focus on

“your driver or own driver” and “authority” by 10%. This question was intended to know

who or what instigate the accident. The responses explain that the opposite driver instigate the

accidents in most cases. Like previous explanation, pedestrian are also responsible for huge

number of the accidents. Along with this Hit pedestrian and sudden loss of control is also seen

off and on. So, it can be stated that bus is more involved in road accident as well as

pedestrians are also not free from faults.

Options of The Questions Number of Responds In Percentage

Your driver 2 10%

opposite driver 14 70%

Passenger/Pedestrian 4 25%

Authority 2 10%


Collision with Bus 7 35%

Hit Pedestrian/during road crosses 5 25%

sudden loss of controls on the vehicle 5 25%



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Q. No. 3 What were the probable measures that could have been taken to avoid the accident?

Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ‘Road

Divider’ by 70%. Rest of the two options got 2nd focus by 5% & 4% response among other

options. This question was intended to know the general reason of the road accident in

people’s view. The responses explain that the general reason in most cases is “Training of the

Drivers” which instigate the accident.

Q. No. 4 Do you think that rate of road accident has been increased in recent days? Why?

Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ‘Yes’ by

100%. This question was intended to know people’s view on road accident status in recent

days. The responses explain a strong believe on the increasing rate of road accident. Along

with this, different respondent showed different reason behind this increasing rate.

Q. No. 5 Which side is more vulnerable you think? Why?

Interpretation

& Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ‘Highways’ by 65%. 2nd focus

is on “Inside Dhaka city” by 35% response. This question was intended to know the most

vulnerable side or most likeable area for road accident. The responses explain that Highways

are most vulnerable to road accident than Inside Dhaka City. Although the percentage of

vulnerability of Inside Dhaka city is not that much small but it is lower than Highways.

Q. No.6 Which type of Vehicle is more involved in Road Accident?


Yes 20 100%

No 0 0

Little Bit 0 0


Road divider 4 20%

Training of the drivers 14 70%

Monitoring by traffic police 5 25%


Bus 16 80%

Truck 10 50%

CNG 3 15%

Ricksha 2 10%


Highways 13 65%

Inside Dhaka City 7 35%



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Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ’Bus’ by

70%. 2nd focus is on “Truck” by 10% response and little focus on “CNG” and “Ricksha” by

15% and 10%. This question was intended to know what type of vehicle is mostly involved in

road accidents. The responses explain that Bus and Trucks are mostly involved in road

accident. Like previous explanation, Buses are the medium of accidents in most of the cases in

both highways and inside Dhaka city.

9.0 Findings

Along with the survey result this report has also studied the supportive previous researches to

get the logical support behind the survey findings. At first, the study will extract the result

from survey and then will get the logical support from the previous research.

9.1 Findings from survey

The table below is a snapshot of the gist of survey finding-

Table 1: Survey Finding

Points Status



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Most obvious case of Road accident Collision with Bus, Hit pedestrian, Sudden loss of control

Mostly involved vehicle in road accident Bus, TruckResponsible for the accident Opposite driver, PedestrianReason behind the accident Lack of Training of The DriverMost vulnerable side Highways

So, the overall survey result explains that Road accidents are increasing and highways are

more vulnerable to road accident than inside Dhaka city. Bus and trucks are mostly involved

in road accidents. Trucks and buses are the major contributors (80%) to road accident

fatalities. Buses and trucks are most frequently involved in “running-off-road” (and hitting

roadside objects), “head-on” and “out-of-control” types of accidents. Drivers of buses and

trucks coming from opposite side are the most obvious to generate the accident. The first and

foremost reason behind this is the lack of training of these drivers.

Besides, Pedestrian and passengers are also responsible for the road accident in some cases.

Sometime their careless movements and disregard attitude toward traffic rules make the

drivers helpless that cause accident. Both pedestrians and drivers on the one hand had

incomplete knowledge of traffic rules, and on the other hand, the observed behavior proved

that they disregarded the rules. This blatant, and at times nonchalant, disregard for traffic rules

can only spell disaster, and it is.

Vulnerability Issues

This report has tried to identify some vulnerable issues which acts like a seed and generates

the road accident with the help of causes behind road accidents. The table below shows the

vulnerability of road accident in both aspects according to the respondent of the survey.

Highways in Bangladesh Inside Dhaka city

Absence of road divider and speed breaker Density of population

Lack of signage and traffic signals Increased vehicles

Lack of traffic police Congested road

Over speed in straight road Inactive traffic system

Overtaking tendency Lack of speed breakers

Bad condition of the road

Table 2: Vulnerable issues in National highways and Dhaka city according to the respondent



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9.2 Findings from Supportive research

At first the focus has been given on identifying the most vulnerable side, then it followed by

identifying the vulnerable issues. Following below is the accident record in highways of the

country from 1998 to 2007.

Table3: Black spots in national highways from 1998 to 2007

Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

In order to focus on the other part of the analysis following table shows the no of accident in

different areas of Dhaka city.

Table 4: Black spots in national highways from 1998 to 2009

Sl. No. Name of the area No. of AccidentsJatrabari 158

2. Farmgate 1113. Sonargaon-Panthopath 984. Bijoy Sharoni 875. Topkhana-Purana Paltan 796. Saidabad 77

Highway No. Of Accident

Dhaka-Chittagong Highway 615

Dhaka-Aricha Highway 363

Daulatdia-Jheenaida-Khulna Highway 172

Nagarbari-Banglabandha Highway 319

Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway 85

Gazipur-Tangail-Jamalpur Highway 151

Nagarbari-Rajshahi Highway 215

Dhaka-Mawa-Barishal Highway 34

Dhaka-Sylhet Highway 500

Total 2454



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7. Shonir Akhra crossing 768. Jasim Uddin road crossing 709. Kakoli (Mymensingh Rd+Kamal Ataturk Avenue) 6710. Shahbag 6611. Staff road crossing 5812. GPO 5713. Hotel Sheraton 5714. Shapla Chattar 5515. New Eskaton 5116. Kakrail, Bhasani road 5117. New Airport road+Bijoy sharoni 5018. Tongi diversion road 4919. Moghbazar 4920. Mirpur road+Cresent Lake road crossing 4521. Shangshad+Manik Mia avenue 4422. Pragati sharoni(Badda) 4323. Manik Mia Avenue+Indira road (rajabazar) 4124. Malibag crossing 4125. Joar Shahara 4026. Kakrail Traffic signal 3827. Hatkhola crossing 3728. Mahakhali crossing 3629. Asad Gate 3530. New Market, Mirpur road 3431. Kuril, Biswa road 3332. Mohakhali 3333. Rokeya Sharoni 3334. Green road junction 3335. Gullistan 3236. Shyamoli (Mirpur Road) 3237. Mowchak 3138. Ramna, Bhasani Gate 3139. Rokeya sharoni 3040. Motijheel 2841. Shatrasta Round circle 2742. Osmani Uddyan 2643. Flying club crossing 2644. Cantomnet Zia Colony Gate 2545. Tikatuki, Toyenbee Circle road 2446. Russel Square 2347. DIT Extension road, Police HQ 2248. Mirpur 10 Round circle 22



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49. Katabon crossing 2150. Rainbow crossing 2151. Postogola 1852. Baily road crossing 1853. Sugandha crossing 1854. Bangshal crossing 16

Total 2391Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

The above 2 table of 2 sectors clearly explains the fact. The noticeable point is the data for

national highways is from 1998 to 2007 and data for Dhaka city is from 1998 to 2009, this

means accident record of Dhaka city is 2years more than national highways. Even though the

total number of accident in national highways is larger than Dhaka city and it is larger by huge

numbers.

So, at this stage of the analysis, this can be stated that national highways are more vulnerable

to road accidents than Dhaka city. And this has been proved by both survey and research

study.

Vulnerability issues

Now, the 2nd part of the analysis is to identify the vulnerability issues. The study has already

found out from survey result the people’s view regarding vulnerability issues. The table below

shows the vulnerability of road accident in both aspects according to the previous research.

Table 5: Vulnerable issues in National highways and Dhaka city according to the previous

research

Highways in Bangladesh Inside Dhaka cityRisky pedestrian crossing Illegal road side shops

Straight but severe road side Minimum level of speed breakers

Faded lines Less number of flud light

Unpaved vulnerable shoulder Same lane for both motorized and Non Motorized vehicle

Undivided no use of barrier Straight road which become slippery in rainy season

Roads under construction or with bad condition



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At this stage, the report has two tables of vulnerability issues, one from survey study another

from previous research. If the points of these two tables are being matched then it will be

visible that almost all the points are same. This means that the issues that came up from the

survey are logical and practical. These vulnerable issues are really instigating the road

accidents with the help of some other additional causes.

9.3 Overall Findings

Road traffic accidents have now emerged as one of the major safety concern issue in any

developing country. A country like Bangladesh, where the population density is too high and

the roads are too congested, road accidents are most obvious to take place off and on. The

number of road accident in Bangladesh has been reached to an alarming stage in recent days.

National highways as well as Dhaka city areas both are witnessing road accidents in almost

every day. The survey result and supportive previous research revealed that national highways

are more vulnerable to road accidents compare to Dhaka city area.

The survey findings have explained that opposite drivers trucks and buses are the major

contributors (80%) to road accident fatalities. Drivers of buses and trucks coming from

opposite side are the most obvious to generate the accident. The first and foremost reason

behind this is the lack of training of these drivers. In most cases, the driver is thought to be

guilty for causing an accident. But the pedestrians are also to blame in many cases

Pedestrians' knowledge regarding rules of walking and crossing road, following signs and

symbols, and drivers' knowledge of vehicles, rules of overtaking, speed, using lanes,

conforming to traffic signs and symbols are very poor.

The study separated the vulnerable issues from causes of road accidents. This is because;

vulnerable issues are not the only and direct factor that instigates the road accidents. When

these issues get accompanied by the causes it generates the accidents. For example, absence of

road divider is a vulnerable issue because accident can still be avoided if drivers are careful

and trained. So, careless and untrained drivers are causes of accidents.

Both survey result and the previous supportive result have revealed almost the same

vulnerable issues in case of national highways as well as Dhaka city area. These are like-

Table 6: Vulnerable issues in National highways and Dhaka city

National Highways Inside Dhaka City

Absence of road divider and speed breaker Minimum level of speed breakers



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Lack of traffic signals and system Congested road, Huge vehicles and population

Over speed in straight road Bad condition of the road

Faded lines Illegal road side shops

Unpaved vulnerable shoulder Same lane for both motorized and Non

Motorized vehicle

10.0 Recommendation

The number of annual RTA fatalities seems to be stabilized in recent years more stabilization

has to be achieved. There has to be a significant decrease in the number of persons killed

each year as a result of road accidents. A suitable vision for road safety in Bangladesh, which

is not unrealistic, is achieving nearly 50% reduction in road accident fatalities within next10

years and also the reduction of the frequency of road accidents to nearly 30%. For the next

three years goal could be set up towards achieving of 15-20% reduction in the annual number



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of road accident fatalities by the end of the year 2013. Following are the recommended steps

that needs to be taken to reduce roads accident rate-

Avoid Reckless driving, Over- speeding and Over- Loading;

Defective vehicles cannot be derived;

Provide adequate training to drivers and pedestrians;

Roads needs to be properly constructed & maintained;

Strong implementation of Traffic rules & regulations;

Strict authority and policy to provide driving license;

Severe punishment on rules break;

Safe driving without having alcohol, drugs etc. must be ensured;

Pedestrians have to use the footpath instead of road;

Use foot over bridge or zebra crossing while crossing the road;.

Utilize helmets and fastening seat belts, etc.;

100% concentration is required while driving the Vehicle;

Regular fitness checking of the vehicle and strict ban on defective vehicle

Hazardous locations improvement

Huge programs should be adopted regarding public awareness of road safety by

different NGO’s and other organizations besides the Govt.

The high rate of fatal accidents in Bangladesh is cause for alarm and unacceptable. The

creation of NRSC and adoption of Road Safety Strategic Action Plans are welcome moves

towards improving road safety. In order to ensure safety on road, GOB has also introduced

police patrolling system on highways. However, not many tangible results have been achieved

so far. It is imperative to review the measures adopted to identify the problems of

implementation and improve or modify them so that they can be more effective. Road safety

issues like education and public awareness, community participation, enforcement,

management of transport sector needs to be addressed at the policy preparation level.

11.0 Conclusion

With the process of rapid economic growth together with increasing motorization and

urbanization, the situation of road safety problems has been worsening in many developing

and so called emerging countries. The road traffic accidents and injury statistics also revealed

a deteriorating safety situation in Bangladesh. There remains much scope for improving road

safety and for that known and proven interventions need to be implemented with due urgency,



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ranging from education, engineering and enforcement. Importantly, initiatives to improve the

conditions would require renewed governmental commitment and considerable resources

particularly trained local personnel, safety specialists and researchers to build up indigenous

capacity and attain sustainability of effective road safety programs.

12.0 Reference

1) Hasib Mohammad Ahsan and Mazharul Hoque (2002) Journal of Civil Engineering,

The Institute of Engineers Bangladesh, vol CE 30 No.1

2) Prof.Dr.Md. Mazharul Hoque, Greg Smith, Dewan Zayid Hossain, S M Sohel

Mahmood (2010) Improving Highway Safety in Bangladesh:Road Improvement and

The Potential Application of iRAP.



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3) Ahsan, H.M. and Hoque, M.M.(1991) “Mass Transit in Metropoliton Dhaka-Some

Issues”-Journal of The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, Dhaka Vol.19,No.1-

2,January.

4) Police Headquarters FIR Report

5) TheDailyStarWebEdition,Vol.5,No.799,http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/08/25/

d608251503125.htm Last checked on 23/03/2012

6) http://www.brta.gov.bd/statistic/ last checked on 23/03/2012

7) Khandkar Fatema Begum, Bangladesh Country Paper on Road Safety

8) Blackspot of National Highways, Accident Research Institute

9) Hazardous Intersection of DMP, Accident Research Institute

10) http://road accident\BANGLAPEDIA Road Transport.htm, last Checked on

20/03/2012

11) http://www.brta.com last checked on 24/03/2012

http://www.brta.com/

Documents

Road accident report