Bangladesh 88th among 183 countries in road accident deaths: Quader

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader told parliament today that Bangladesh ranks 88th among 183 countries in road accident death rate.

In response to a question from Awami League MP M Abdul Latif, Quader said the information provided by research studies that claim the rate of road accidents in Bangladesh is the highest in South Asia is not true.

In a scripted answer, Obaidul Quader said according to the World Health Organization's World Health Ranking published in 2020, Bangladesh ranks 88th among 183 countries in road accident death rate. The death rate is 16.74 per lakh.

Among other South Asian countries, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and India are ranked 72nd, 82nd, 85th, and 90th respectively in 2020 meaning that Bangladesh's position is after India in terms of safe roads among the neighbouring countries, Quader also said.

In reply to another query from AL MP Benazir Ahmed, the road transport and bridges minister said a policy is being prepared to control unapproved human hauliers such as easy bike, nosimon, karimon, and Bhotbhoti.

"Once the policy is finalised, a decision will be taken regarding giving approval to such vehicles," he added.

The minister said currently there are 55,82,310 authorised vehicles registered with the BRTA.

At present, vehicles such as easybike, nasimon, karimon, and bhotbhoti are plying on the roads without permission.

The minister said dividers are being installed on different highways. Service lanes are being constructed on all highways in phases.

To implement the prime minister's directive, dope test report has been made mandatory for the issuance and renewal of driving licence of professional motorists from January 30 last year.

In response to another question, the minister said a project titled "Training for Heavy Vehicle Drivers" has been taken up as part of a special training programme to increase awareness about road laws among road transport drivers, through which it will be possible to train three lakh heavy vehicle drivers.