Improving Road Safety
in the OIC Member States
84
Some accident statistics are presented below, indicating the size and the character of the road
safety problem in Bangladesh (Mazharul Hogue et al., Road Safety in Bangladesh and Some
Recent Advances):
 Pedestrians are the most affected group and are involved in more than 47%of road accidents
and 49% of all casualties. In urban areas pedestrians accounted for 62% of fatalities and in
Dhaka city this is nearly 75% (Sohel Mahmud, 2014).
 Around 73% of people killed in police reported accidents are male. People in the age group
of 15-44 years account for more than half of the road accidents casualties. One-third of the
victims are adult males of age between 21-40 years. Children (under 16 years) are heavily
involved in road accidents at an estimated rate of 22% of all road accident fatalities.
 According to the Accident Research Institute (ARI) about 43 % of reported accidents occur
on National Highways with a number of serious black spots (30% of accidents take place on
4% of the highway network). Accidents on national highways are more severe – about 48%
of accidents on national highways is fatal versus 14% on city roads (Mazharul Hogue et al.,
Road Safety in Bangladesh and Some Recent Advances).
 Trucks and buses are highly represented in accidents: heavy vehicles are especially strongly
involved in accidents with pedestrians, accounting for 79% of all accident with pedestrians
(37% trucks; 20% buses and 22%minibuses).
 According to ARI, In national highways, the following four accident types account for close to
84% of the total accidents:
- Hit pedestrian (42%).
- Head on collision (20%).
- Rear end collision (13%).
- Overturning (9.0%).
 According to ARI, the following two accident types are very common in city road,:
- Hit pedestrian (49%).
- Rear end collision (24%).
 Accident data for other road types like village road or upzilla road are not being monitored
accurately due to poor vigilance of police and lack of awareness of local dwellers. Besides,
the administrative procedures of a police case also motivate them to avoid the case. Which is
why it is hard to get characteristics analysis of those roads?
 The economic impact of road crashes in Bangladesh is high and is estimated at 1.6% of GDP,
based on the WHO 2015 Global Status Report. The fact that (young) adult men, as indicated
above, are relatively often involved in road accidents, contributes to the socio-economic
impact, as this group is often generating income, providing for their families.
9.2.1 Causes of road accidents
Causes of road accidents are different for national highways and for the city areas. In national
highways hit pedestrian and head on collision are the most dominant types of police reported
accidents. The root causes that are responsible for this can be divided into three main factors,
i.e. road, vehicle and user, as illustrated in more detail below.