Road accidents killed 38,635 in past 5 years: Jatri Kalyan Samity

At least 38,635 people were killed in road accidents across the country between 2015 and 2020, according to Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS).

The lives were lost in a total of 26,279 accidents, the organization's Secretary General Mohammad Mozammel Haque Chowdhury informed the press on Thursday.

He was addressing an event held at the Jatiya Press Club marking the "National Roads Safety Day 2021".

Haque demanded immediate implementation of the pledges made by the government during the last general polls for safer roads.

"Bangladesh, despite being a signatory to the UN's Brasilia Declaration, has failed to keep its promise to reduce the number of road accidents by half," he added.

According to BJKS, some 8,642 people were killed and 21,855 injured in 6,581 road accidents in 2015 alone.

In 2016, some 6,055 people were killed and 15,914 injured in 4,312 road accidents.

Besides, 7,397 people were killed and 16,193 injured in 4,979 accidents in 2017, while 7,221 people were killed and 15,466 were injured in 5,514 accidents in 2018, and 7,855 people were killed and 13,330 injured in 5,516 accidents in 2019.

The passenger welfare body made several recommendations to the authorities concerned for ensuring road safety.

Which include, budget increase for road safety programmes, ending extortion on roads, curbing corruption and irregularities in different regulatory bodies, and ensuring transparency, accountability in road construction and maintenance.

As per Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) data, on average, at least 64 people are killed and over 150 are injured in road accidents every day.