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As per the ARI report, at least 4,076 people were killed and 8,715 injured in 3,513 road crashes in 2018.

Till December 22, 2019, a total of 4,230 people were killed while 7,002 were injured in 3,820 road crashes, according to ARI. The institute prepared the data on the basis of media reports.

The number may increase as many accidents go unreported.

To achieve “target 3.6” of sustainable development goals, the government would have to reduce the number to half of that mentioned in the police report, by 2020.

Yesterday, when a reporter asked Quader whether he has any failure in this regard as he has been at the helm of the ministry for eight years, the minister said, “There is no failure here.”

“Go through the WHO report. It shows that the number of road crashes and casualties is declining in our country,” said Quader, asking a ministry official to read out the statistics.

Browsing his phone, the official then said Bangladesh’s rank was 90 among 192 countries in 2011 while 109 among 172 countries in 2014 and 103 among 183 countries in 2017. He did not give further details.

The Daily Star could not independently verify it.

But when a reporter mentioned that a WHO report published in 2018 said around 25,000 people were killed in road crashes in Bangladesh, Quader said, “This is not true. No, the report did not mention it.”

At least 24,954 people were killed in road crashes in the country in 2016, according to a WHO report published in December 2018.

The number is almost 10 times the official number given by police. According to police data, 2,463 people were killed and 2,134 injured in 2,566 road accidents in 2016.

The WHO, in its report released in 2015, said 21,316 were killed in road crashes in 2012. But police report said the number was 2,538.

Quader said they are working to further reduce the number of road accidents.