The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that total 21,316 people died across Bangladesh in just a year – 2012 – while pedestrians account to 32 percent of the total casualty.
The other road crash victims are: passengers of four-wheeled cars and light vehicles (28 percent), drivers of four-wheeled cars and light vehicles (13 percetn), riders of motorised two or three-wheelers (11 percent), drivers or passengers of buses (8 percent), drivers or passengers of heavy trucks (6 percent) and cyclists (2 percent), according to a WHO annual report.
The country also loses an estimated 1.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) due to road traffic crashes, The Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015, which was released today states.
Some 1.25 million people die each year in the world as a result of road traffic crashes despite improvements in road safety.
“Road traffic fatalities take an unacceptable toll – particularly on poor people in poor countries,” said Dr Margaret Chan, director general of WHO, in a press release. “We’re moving in the right direction.”
The report shows that road safety strategies are saving lives. “But it also tells us that the pace of change is too slow.”
Though 79 countries have seen a decrease in the absolute number of fatalities in the last three years, 68 countries have seen an increase.
Countries that have had the most success in reducing the number of road traffic deaths have achieved this by improving legislation, enforcement, and making roads and vehicles safer, the press release said.
Source: The Daily Star