125,405 killed on roads in twelve and a half years: passengers' welfare group blames wrong policies
Road accidents have risen at an alarming rate in the country because strategic transport planning was ignored and road-centred development was prioritised, the Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association has alleged. According to the organisation's count, 125,405 people were killed in 72,736 road accidents in the country from 2014 to June 30, 2026.
The organisation claims that instead of building a three-dimensional public transport system, travel was made exclusively road-dependent, and that the risk of accidents and the loss of life have risen under the influence of the previous government's wrong policies.
Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury made the allegation in a message sent to the media on Wednesday (October 21) on the occasion of National Road Safety Day-2026.
He said that before independence, the country's main modes of travel were waterways and railways. As the two modes were safe and affordable, about 80 percent of people travelled by them, while about 20 percent used roads. Road accidents were also relatively limited at that time.
Mozammel Haque claimed that after independence, under the influence of various donor agencies including the World Bank and the IMF, and because of the government's wrong policies, rail and waterways were gradually squeezed instead of a multi-dimensional transport system being built. At the same time, most people's travel was made road-dependent through the construction and expansion of new roads.
He alleged that alongside this policy, road accidents have risen significantly because of corruption, irregularities in the transport sector and extortion. For this reason, he commented, all past governments must take responsibility for the loss of life on the roads.
Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said widespread chaos was created on the roads during the previous Awami League government through irregularities, corruption and mismanagement in the road sector and extortion by transport owners and workers and some dishonest police officers. He claimed road accidents have risen alarmingly for various reasons including the movement of unfit vehicles, unlicensed and underage drivers, defects in road construction, driving under the influence of drugs, reckless speed, fitness certificates for unfit vehicles and licences for unqualified drivers.
According to the Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association's media monitoring, 125,405 people were killed and 176,249 injured in 72,736 road accidents in the country from 2014 to June 30, 2026.
The organisation claims this information is based only on incidents published in the media; considering the real picture in hospitals, the number of casualties could be several times higher.
At the same time, he claimed that the number of people killed in road accidents in Bangladesh is higher than the number killed in various ongoing wars in the world in the same period, including Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Palestine.
The Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association alleges that despite progress in various fields after independence, road expansion and road-based investment have been prioritised for a long time due to a lack of farsighted planning and leadership in the transport sector, instead of increasing the use of safe waterways and railways. At the same time, exclusive pressure has been created on the roads as an integrated public transport system has not been built.
The organisation claims that although passenger pressure on the roads has increased, mass transit or a dedicated bus network has not been built in proportion. As a result, ordinary people have to suffer extreme hardship in their daily travel for want of good public transport.
The statement also said that capitalising on this crisis, the trend of using battery-run auto-rickshaws, ride-sharing motorcycles, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, locally made Nasimon-Karimon and various modified vehicles for passenger transport has increased. As a result, traffic congestion and accidents on the roads have increased further, the organisation alleged.
According to the organisation's observation, the main causes of accidents include the reckless growth and unregulated movement of motorcycles, battery-run rickshaws and CNG-run auto-rickshaws; the lack of adequate medians or road dividers on roads and blind bends caused by trees; defects in highway construction, vehicle defects and violation of traffic laws; vehicles driving on the wrong side, extortion on roads and carrying passengers in goods vehicles; unskilled drivers, unfit vehicles and carrying excess passengers; and reckless speed, risky overtaking and driving without rest.
The Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association has placed 10 recommendations to reduce road accidents. They include running the Road Transport and Highways Division and the BRTA under the supervision of local and foreign transport experts instead of a bureaucracy-dependent system; building a technology-based modern bus network on the model of the developed world; introducing technology-based road management and control; creating skilled drivers through modern training and ensuring licences based on competence; building service lanes and footpaths on important national highways; stopping extortion on roads through structural reform and ensuring drivers' salaries, allowances and working hours; arranging safe pedestrian crossings, road signs and road markings on highways; ensuring quality road construction and maintenance and conducting regular road safety audits; modernising the vehicle fitness certificate system and phasing out expired public transport; and increasing the BRTA's capacity and establishing a traffic training academy.
After the figures and recommendations raised in the National Road Safety Day message, it remains to be seen how much of them the relevant authorities turn into real action to reduce the loss of life on the roads.
