Improving Road Safety
in the OIC Member States
86
obstructing the through traffic. Moreover, in other roads like national and regional roads,
designated places for loading and unloading, such as bus bays, are absent. This scenario is
very common and creates unsafe situations.
Vehicle related causes for road accidents:
 Many unfit vehicles with poor tyres, poor brakes, broken windscreens and missing or
malfunctioning indicators are used on national highways, causing vehicle roll-over
(overturning), head-on and pedestrian accidents.
 Vehicle modification is another cause of road accidents in Bangladesh. Buses and trucks have
been modified beyond the design standard. Trucks are modified by extending the sides and
load-bed with bars, angle iron and sheet metal so as to carry extra goods. When the extended
portion hits other vehicle it can damage and penetrate the other vehicle. Buses are usually
modified by adding extra seats to carry more passengers. As a result, it reduces leg room and
makes the situation compact, increasing casualties after accidents.
 There are many locally made vehicles (three-wheeler) with unauthorised configurations,
which are causing accidents in national, regional and other roads. These vehicles do not have
a proper brake system, power system, indicator system or lighting system, but carry around
10 to 12 people on a single unit. These types of vehicles are not able to stop quickly or indicate
their trajectory and cause various types of crashes.
 Lighting system or retro reflective stickers are absent on many bicycles whereby cyclists are
notoriously difficult to see on dark, unlit roads.
User related causes for road accidents:
 Drivers are not well educated. In most cases, drivers know the practical things of driving, but
do not know associated theoretical issues, such as defence driving, meaning of sign –
marking, understanding the hazard and required reaction.
 No specific driving time requirements and timetables/duty rosters for professional drivers,
such as truck, bus or taxi drivers. As a result, sometimes a driver has to drive around 20 hours
a day which creates fatigue and decrease awareness. In the driving license delivery system,
a screening process for safe driver is absent. Only some practical issues are checked, but the
scope for cognitive impairment measurement and perception towards road safety of drivers
is limited.
 Pedestrians are unaware of the safe rules of road crossing and try to cross the road at
locations without pedestrian crossings.
 Pedestrians are very reluctant to use footbridges. Pedestrians cross the road at grade to
maintain the shortest travel distance between origin and destination. This creates conflicts
between vehicles and pedestrians.
 The use of motorcycle helmets is still unpopular in Bangladesh, especially by youngsters.
According to ARI3 these are key contributing factors in road crashes. These factors lead to
excessive speeding, overloading, dangerous overtaking, reckless driving, carelessness of road
users, failure to obey mandatory traffic rules and regulations, variety of vehicle characteristics
3 As reported by Shifun Newaz of Accident Research Institute (ARI).