Dhaka, Jan 5 (NationPress) The year 2025 has seen a significant surge in road accidents and associated fatalities in Bangladesh, with a staggering 9,111 lives lost and 14,812 individuals injured across 6,729 incidents, raising alarms about the country's inadequate road safety measures and infrastructure, as reported by a welfare organization.

Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, a passenger advocacy group, shared these alarming statistics during a press briefing held at Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Sunday.

According to their findings, road accidents in 2025 escalated by 6.94% compared to the previous year, with fatalities climbing by 5.79% and injuries by 14.87%.

Motorcycles were involved in 2,493 accidents, resulting in 2,983 deaths and 2,219 injuries, constituting 37.04% of total crashes, 38.46% of fatalities, and 14.98% of injuries.

The breakdown of fatalities includes 1,691 drivers, 551 transport workers, 832 students, and 29 teachers, with women and children making up 1,056 and 622 deaths, respectively.

Chowdhury criticized the worsening traffic congestion and extortion practices, which have led to increased transport fares for both goods and passengers.

He also held the interim government, led by Yunus, accountable for the lack of reforms in the road transport sector, leaving citizens' daily commuting challenges, road safety, and fare hikes at the mercy of transport operators.

Chowdhury pointed out that the country incurs financial losses of approximately Bangladeshi taka 60,000 crore annually due to road accidents and fatalities, stressing the urgent need for robust political commitment to avert further tragedies.

He urged political parties gearing up for the February 2026 national elections to include commitments to enhance road safety and public transport in their election platforms to mitigate loss of life and economic impact.

The organization identified 22 factors contributing to road crashes, including excessive speeding, reckless overtaking, unfit vehicles, inadequate driver training, ignorance of traffic regulations, and substandard road construction.

To address these issues, the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity proposed 12 strategies designed to reduce road accidents, such as increasing the road safety budget, creating a dedicated road safety division under the Bangladesh Road Transport and Bridges Ministry, and ensuring transparency in the transportation sector by dismantling monopolies, corruption, irregularities, and extortion.