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Take steps to curb road accidents: Ilias Kanchan

Unb, Dhaka
Nirapad Sarak Chai (We Demand Safe Roads) founder Ilias Kanchan yesterday said steps should be taken to cut road accidents by half within the next year.
The government's development projects will not be successful unless the accident rate is reduced, he added. The popular film star of yesteryears made the remarks at a human chain in front of Jatiya Press Club organised by Nischa, marking Global Road Safety Week.
"We get only one chance at life. We don't want it to end due to our mistakes or someone's negligence or inefficiency," said Kanchan, who has been carrying the rigorous campaign since the tragic demise of his wife in a road crash in 1993.
He urged everyone to follow traffic rules and stay alert.
Nischa founder also hoped that the current rate of road accidents can be reduced significantly. "If we stay aware and follow rules, I believe we can reduce the accident rate by 50 percent within 2020," he said.
Nischa activists and many others were present at the event.
ROAD SAFETY WEEK
The country is observing the United Nations Global Road Safety Week this year for the first time, aiming to raise awareness about road safety to prevent road accidents.
The fifth UN Global Road Safety Week-2019 is being observed from May 6 to 12, with "Leadership for Road Safety" as its theme.
The government took the decision at a time when road accidents have become a major issue, especially since last year”s massive students' protests for safer roads. The road transport and bridges ministry has planned various events to mark the week.
However, despite measures being taken, number of road crashes and fatalities had increased last year compared to the previous year, according to police data.
According to them, 2,635 people were killed in 2,609 road crashes last year while at least 2,513 people had died in 2,562 accidents in 2017.
The figures are significantly lower than that of two road-safety organisations but even with these numbers, it would be very difficult to achieve the SDG target, experts and road safety campaigners said.
Nirapad Sarak Chai said 4,439 people were killed in 3,103 road crashes last year while Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity said 7,221 people were killed in 5,514 road crashes.