481 killed in road crashes in August, Bangladesh safety group reports

Road crashes killed 481 people across Bangladesh in August, 65 more than in July, according to a monthly report by the Road Safety Foundation. The 513 crashes also injured 664 people.

Women accounted for 61 of the deaths and children for 58. Motorcyclists suffered the heaviest toll, with 176 people killed in 183 crashes. They represented 36.59 percent of all road deaths, while motorcycle crashes accounted for 35.67 percent of all recorded crashes.

Pedestrians were the second-largest identified group among those killed, with 102 deaths. Sixty-seven drivers and their assistants also died. Loss of control caused the largest number of crashes, with 195 incidents, or 38 percent. The report also recorded 126 head-on collisions, 106 crashes in which pedestrians were hit or run over, and 78 rear-end collisions.

Dhaka division recorded the most crashes, with 172 accidents that killed 144 people. Barishal recorded the fewest, with 15 crashes and 14 deaths. Bogura had the highest district-level death toll, with 37 fatalities. In Dhaka city, 23 people died and 54 were injured in 48 crashes.

The foundation said its report drew on nine national newspapers, 17 national and regional online news portals, electronic media reports and its own sources. It identified excessive speed and loss of vehicle control as major causes, alongside faulty vehicles and roads, reckless driving, weak traffic management and poor enforcement. It called for speed-monitoring technology, safer road design, removal of expired vehicles, improved driver training and institutional reforms.