Staff Reporter :
As many as 543 people were killed in 427 road accidents in the country in April, according to a report.
At least 612 more people were injured in the accidents, according to the latest edition of the Road Safety Foundation report published on Saturday, prepared based on data collected from seven national dailies as well as five online and electronic media outlets.
The report states that 206 or 37.93% of the victims died in motorcycle accidents.
Moreover, 116 pedestrians were killed in these accidents, accounting for 21.36% of the victims. A total of 16 people who died were either drivers or drivers’ assistants. It said on average 18 people died every day in April.
Road Safety Foundation says that motorcycle accidents hitting the speedy trucks increased alarmingly.
According to them, public transport drivers, who are struggling both mentally and physically, are putting themselves and others at risk. They also blamed the underage youths riding motorcycles
Moreover, pedestrians are not adhering to road safety guidelines and reckless driving The report says that deceased, 13 people (2.39%) were bus passengers, 63 (11.60%) were truck, pick-up, or tractor passengers, and 14 (2.57%) were microbus, private car, ambulance, or police jeep passengers, 100 (18.41%) were three-wheeler passengers, 19 (3.49%) were local transports and 12 (2.20%) were bi-cycle or rickshaw passengers.
It also pointed out that 167 (43.79%) of the accidents were reported from the national highways, 123 (28.80%) were reported from the regional roads, 65 (15.42%) from the village roads, 46 (10.77%) from the towns, and six (1.40%) were reported from other places.
Observers say that the road accidents take place for the faults of the pedestrians also in the cities and towns and on the highways. They seem careless while walk, pay more attention to the cell phone sets in hands and think of how to buy daily necessities. The defective road planning in the cities also contribute to tragic deaths almost every day.
