STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists make up 95 percent of reported road traffic fatalities in Dhaka North City Corporation areas, according to a report.

Of the fatalities, 73 percent were pedestrians, 20 percent motorcyclists, 5 percent vehicle occupants, and 2 percent cyclists.

The report, titled “Status Summary 2024: Road Safety Risk Factors”, was released under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety.

The findings were unveiled at an event organised by DNCC, the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, CIPRB, and Vital Strategies at DNCC’s Nagar Bhaban yesterday.

Since May 2021, JH-IIRU has been conducting studies in Dhaka north under the initiative. Presenting the findings, Dr Shirin Wadhania of JH-IIRU said speed observations between October 2021 and November 2024 showed that 23 percent of vehicles across all categories were found to be exceeding limits based on the BRTA Speed Limit Guideline 2024.

The BRTA guideline, issued in May, set maximum speeds of 80 km/h on expressways and highways and 40 km/h on city roads.

Motorcycles topped the list of vehicles that exceeded speed limits, with 51 percent, while 29 percent of vehicles were over the limit on local and collector roads. Speeding was slightly higher on weekends, compared to weekdays. Other risk factors identified were excessive speed, low helmet use, and lack of seatbelts and child restraints.

Despite these challenges, road fatalities in DNCC dropped from 424 in 2015 to 283 in 2023, though they rose to 456 in 2021.

The report suggested police enforce new limits with a focus on motorcycles, pickups, light trucks, and commercial vehicles.

Brig Gen Md Moin Uddin, DNCC’s chief engineer, said, “Speed is a major factor in fatalities. If vehicle speed is kept under control, fatalities will go down. From PRTF, speed limit guidance came out in 2022, and we must implement it.”

“Our footpaths and footbridges must be usable. Many footpaths are occupied by shops. I take this failure on myself, but I seek everyone’s cooperation to clear them. If pedestrians have safe passage, fatalities will drop significantly.”