A total of 1,849 road crashes in the capital killed 1,384 people and injured 2,488 between 2020 and July 2026. Of those killed, 1,034 (74.71 percent) were men, 219 (15.82 percent) women and 131 (9.46 percent) children.
The figures came in a Road Safety Foundation statement on Saturday (1 August) covering road crashes in the capital from 2020 to July 2026.
According to the statistics, pedestrians made up the largest share of the dead: 592 (42.77 percent) were pedestrians, 536 (38.72 percent) motorcyclists, and 256 (18.49 percent) drivers or passengers of buses, rickshaws, CNG auto-rickshaws and other vehicles.
An analysis of when crashes occurred showed the most deaths happened at night: 519 (37.5 percent) of those killed died in night-time crashes. A further 258 (18.64 percent) died in the morning, 195 (14.08 percent) at noon, 174 (12.57 percent) in the afternoon, 142 (10.26 percent) at dawn and 96 (6.93 percent) in the evening.
Among the vehicles involved, trucks, covered vans, pickups, tankers and garbage trucks accounted for the largest share — 33.25 percent of all crashes. Motorcycles were involved in 26 percent, buses in 21.75 percent, auto-rickshaws, CNGs and leguna vehicles in 12.73 percent, and microbuses, private cars and jeeps in 6.25 percent.
The analysis found crashes were relatively more frequent at night and in the morning. According to those concerned, the lack of bypass roads in the capital means heavy freight vehicles travel at speed from 10 pm to dawn, so pedestrians are more often victims while crossing roads. Prolonged traffic jams also breed impatience and intolerance among drivers, another factor in crashes.
The analysis also said roads that are inadequate relative to the number of vehicles, the mixing of fast and slow vehicles on the same road, encroached footpaths, the absence or unusable state of foot-over-bridges where needed, and road users’ lack of awareness all play a significant role in rising crashes. Jatrabari, Demra, Mohammadpur, Kuril Bishwa Road and the airport road have been identified as accident-prone hotspots in the capital. To restore discipline in the transport sector, the report stressed launching company-based bus services through route rationalisation, along with coordinated action among the BRTA, BRTC, DTCA, city corporations and traffic police. Implementing these steps could significantly reduce crashes and deaths on the capital’s roads, those concerned believe.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report