Road Accident in Highways and Inside Dhaka City Page 1 United International University April 03, 2012 1.0 Introduction Safe, sound and sustainable mobility is one of the fundamental necessities of human being. Unfortunately, mobility or transport is become a ‘global tragedy’ with ever-rising trend and represent a major cause of premature deaths and disabilities worldwide. Road trauma has now been recognized as one of the significant diseases of industrial societies and is an increasing public health and economic issue in developing countries like Bangladesh. According to police statistics, there are about 4,000 deaths and many more serious injuries each year on roads in Bangladesh. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and those using informal transport including the bus and truck passengers are the most vulnerable road user group contributing almost 80 percent of road fatalities. Road accident and injuries are now a growing and serious problem in Bangladesh and the safety situation is very severe by international standard. Although Bangladesh is one of the lowest motorized countries (motorization level 2.3) in the world, it has, however, the worst road fatality rates in the Asia-Pacific region. Developing countries are now experiencing a serious road safety crisis. Like many other developing countries Bangladesh is experiencing a very severe road safety problem. The state of the Dhaka’s traffic does not require elaboration since the commuter gets their firsthand experience every day, even on weekly holiday. However, injury and fatality rates per 100,000
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1.0 Introduction
Safe, sound and sustainable mobility is one of the fundamental necessities of human being.
Unfortunately, mobility or transport is become a ‘global tragedy’ with ever-rising trend and
represent a major cause of premature deaths and disabilities worldwide. Road trauma has now
been recognized as one of the significant diseases of industrial societies and is an increasing
public health and economic issue in developing countries like Bangladesh. According to
police statistics, there are about 4,000 deaths and many more serious injuries each year on
roads in Bangladesh. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and those using informal transport
including the bus and truck passengers are the most vulnerable road user group contributing
almost 80 percent of road fatalities. Road accident and injuries are now a growing and serious
problem in Bangladesh and the safety situation is very severe by international standard.
Although Bangladesh is one of the lowest motorized countries (motorization level 2.3) in the
world, it has, however, the worst road fatality rates in the Asia-Pacific region.
Developing countries are now experiencing a serious road safety crisis. Like many other
developing countries Bangladesh is experiencing a very severe road safety problem. The state
of the Dhaka’s traffic does not require elaboration since the commuter gets their firsthand
experience every day, even on weekly holiday. However, injury and fatality rates per 100,000
populations have been increasing constantly and the fatality rate per 100,000 vehicles has
increased significantly in the past 10 years in Dhaka Metropolitan Area. It is not Dhaka alone,
the number of deaths on highways has also gone up in recent years. About 70 percent of road
accident fatalities occurred in rural areas including rural sections of national highways.
Several studies (Hoque, 1986; Hoque et al., 2006) dealt with the traffic safety problem of the
city and also of national highways, but very rarely research has been conducted to examine
the comparative severity of accident problem in these both sector. This paper aims to analyze
the ratio of the road accident in both highways and inside Dhaka city from a comparative and
relative perspective.
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2.0 Objective
This report was an opportunity to study on a practical situation of one of
the most distressed disaster in Bangladesh in recent days. Although the
report has a broader objective to proceed on, but this broader objective is
basically fragmented in some more specific objective. These are as
follows-
The status of the vulnerability of both sector-highway and inside
Dhaka city
Compare both sector to each other and identify the equality or
excessiveness of two sectors in terms of vulnerability
The variabilities of the vulnerability in both sector
The gap between adopted action steps and the antidote for the
variabilities of the vulnerability
Probable appropriate solution
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3.0 Methodology
Types and source- with regards of the availability of the
information I have used both primary and secondary data in all
aspect of the report. Most of the primary data are collected from
different sources, includes road accident victims, witness, drivers,
hospital officials etc. Secondary used in the report are taken from
the various research reports, web sites and news paper.
Analysis Plan- This report is basically analysis from both
comparative and relative perspective. It aims to identify the degree
of vulnerability of highways and inside Dhaka city in case of road
accident, whether the two sectors are equally vulnerable or one is
more than other one. In order to do that accurately the study has
first gathered the idea and data from conducted survey and then
took the logical back-up from previous researches. After that the
report has analyzed the gathered data from two perspectives both
comparative and relative. It has found out the similar vulnerable
criteria in two sectors and also found out the different criteria.
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4.0 Justification
The road accident has become the most obvious event in present days. Office goers, school
students, workers, pedestrian every morning people go out with this uncertainty that they
might not see the face of their dearest ones again. Sometime it may grant the life but breaks
the bone of the main earning person of the family and shatters the dream of that family. A
road accident is not just an accident; it’s like a curse for a family.
Once upon a time, there was a belief that road accident is the phenomena that happen only in
the foreign country. After that, few accidents in Bangladesh forced people to believe that road
accident can also take place in our country but only in big highways. Today is the time when
road accident is no longer restricted to one area by its characteristics. At present road
accidents status inside Dhaka city has achieved a neck to neck position in the competition
with highway accident. Now, almost every day we see the newspaper with blood colored
photos of the accident, among which highway and inside Dhaka city both comes in front.
Each year more than 500000 people die in road accidents around the world (Mannan and
Karim,1998). In Bangladesh fatality rates per 10,000 vehicles are about 86 persons (Ross,
1998). The safety problem is very severe by international standards with some 45 fatalities per
10000 motor vehicles in Bangladesh compared to 2.0 in the USA and 1.4 in UK, for example
(Hoque et al., 1997). In Bangladesh, the most scientific and modern research was conducted
by Hoque (1981 to 1991), which provide some important and factual information about the
extent and nature of accidents.
All these research works signify the severity and the increasing trend of the road accident in
Bangladesh. Some of the research has focused on highways individually or only on inside
Dhaka city. These researches help us to understand that both highways and inside Dhaka City
both sectors are vulnerable, but queries do not take full stop here. Despite of this fact, that
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road accident is obvious in both highways and inside Dhaka city, there is no such research or
statement that will inform us that which sector is more vulnerable among highways and inside
Dhaka city.
For this reason, I decided to find out the answer in this research. I decided to analyze the
researches on both sector and judge them with the present statistics and the victims/witness of
the road accident. The aim is to bring out a finding which will be based on practical scenario
and supportive researches. And the result will help to understand that among highways and
inside Dhaka city which one is more vulnerable or whether they are equally vulnerable or not.
This research is important because its not enough to know that road accident is increasing, or
it’s not enough to know why road accidents are happening.
Individual researches are done highlighting highways and inside Dhaka city individually. As a
result it is difficult for the government to implement the action steps in two sectors on the
priority basis. Once we will understand which sector is more vulnerable or both are equally
vulnerable we will be able to identify the variability by which the vulnerability varies or gets
equal. After that it will be easy to resolve the matter by implanting the prescribed action steps
against that variability.
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5.0 Limitation
This research paper was based on the road accidents in both national highways and inside
Dhaka city. It was aimed to find out the vulnerability of the road accident in both national
highways and inside Dhaka city from a relative as well as comparative perspective. At the
initial stage, it seemed that availability of the relevant information would not be very difficult
to find out as road accident has become a common phenomenon in recent days. In reality,
actual situation presented some different scenario. Although road accidents are taking place in
every day, but it was hard to process peoples’ understanding and get the data that report
needed. This is because road accidents are happening in both national highways and inside
Dhaka city almost every day on a regular basis. So, people get confused to judge which one is
more vulnerable. Along with this the report was forced to face some other problems, as such-
Peoples’ confusion to judge the vulnerability
Less availability of the recent secondary data
Analysis only on own ability
Limit the study into confined area where as the subject includes lot more thing
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6.0 Accident Statistics
Bangladesh is a very densely populated low lying country with 123 million inhabitants living
in an area of 147 570 sq. km. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, has a population of over
10 million with a growth rate of 8% per annum. Road transport plays an important role in
Bangladesh. It has achieved a significant growth in the road transport sector over the past
twenty years. Presently the length of roads is about 271,000 kilometers (km), including about
21,000 km of major roads; 2,835 route km of railways; 3,800 km of perennial waterways
(which increases to 6,000 km during the monsoon) and the ports of Mongla and Chittagong;
and three international airports (Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet) and eight domestic airports.
Road transport has turned out to be the most dominant mode in carriage of passenger and
freight traffic in recent years. The number of registered motor vehicles on road increased
steadily by 62% over the last decade from 3 39 448 in 1990 to 5 51 011 in 2000. The motor
vehicle composition on roads is characterized as motorcycles 46%,motor cars 14%; trucks
12%; baby taxis 12%;buses/minibuses 9%, and others 7%. Despite phenomenal growth in the
number of motor vehicles the country’s transport demand is still predominantly met by non-
motorized modes, particularly rickshaws and its level of motorization is far below the levels in
other Asian countries. The present number of rickshaws in Bangladesh could be in the order
of 8 00 000. To cater to the growing demand of road transport, the major road network
(national highways, regional roads and feeder roads) increased from 14 949 km to 21 174 km
in 2000. Pedestrians are involved in about 70% of road accidents.
Number of Registered Vehicles in Bangladesh up to June 2011
Figure 1: Number of registered Vehicles in Bangladesh up to 2011
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Source: http://www.brta.gov.bd/statistic/
Traffic Accident Trends in Bangladesh
Figure 2: Traffic accident trends in Bangladesh from1999 to 2008
Source:http://www.brta.gov.bd/statistic/
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Reported Traffic Accident Trends in Bangladesh
Figure 3: Reported Traffic Accident Trends in Bangladesh
source: Police Headquarters (FIR) Report
National Statistical trends in road accidents
Total number of Fatalities- 2646 (In 2010) [Source Police FIR)
Total number of Serious injuries-1389 (in 2010) [Source Police FIR)
Total number of road accidents – 2827 (in 2010) [Source Police FIR)
Pedestrian death (Total Pedestrians Death -1206 (in 2009) (Source : Police
MAAP5 Data)
Motorcyclist deaths (Not available)
Road accident death of children less than 5 years)-(Death -69(in 2009), Source :
Police MAAP5 Data)
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“Fleet Safety” records or public/private sector organization (detains/100,000 km)-
Not available
Accident type in Bangladesh
Most common accident types are
Hit pedestrian (45%),
Rear end collisions (16.5%),
Head on collisions (13.2%),
Overturning (9.3%)
Intensity of the Accident
Fatal 77 %, nearly 22 percent of all fatalities in Bangladesh and are 2.5 times higher than
Demonstrates the prevalence of significant, Underreporting of Injury accidents.
Cause of accident in Bangladesh
Over-involvement of Trucks and Buses
Unskilled and less educated drivers
Illegal competition to overtake the vehicle
Reckless driving
Over- speeding
Over- Loading
Vehicular defects;
Lack of Knowledge and consciousness of the road users
Hazardous roads & road environments
Adverse road condition/(30%)
Lack of Training to the drivers
Lack of training of maintenance of vehicles
Poor implementation of Traffic rules & regulations
Driving under influence of alcohol, drugs etc.;
Poor utilization of helmets, seat belts etc.;
Walk on the roads instead of foot over bridge
Cross the road without using the foot over bridge
Using roads instead of using the footpath
The distribution of accidents according to road types
National Highways-38%
Regional Roads-12%
Feeder Roads-15%
Others-(Including City Streets)-
35%
6.1 Situation of Dhaka City
Road traffic accidents and the resulting deaths have now emerged as one of the major safety
and public health problems in urban areas all over the world. The combination of rapid
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urbanization and motorization has made the problem even severe for the developing cities of
Asia. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is no exception. Official statistics reveal that more
than fatalities and injuries occur annually due to traffic accidents in Dhaka city. It
demonstrates the burden and seriousness of the problem and emphasizes the need for strict
and comprehensive measures to prevent the unwanted and unnecessary loss of lives. In urban
areas, the traffic roadway system context is more complex where a mixed road user
environment prevails and greater perceptual and cognitive demands are placed on the road
users. The heterogeneity of traffic, modes of works with varying speed and maneuvering time
makes the cities like Dhaka even more complex.
6.2 Situation of National Highways
Almost 30 percent of total accidents on national highways are occurring only in 4 percent of
total kilometer age. Hazards associated with roads and roadsides were particularly
predominant. Adverse roadway elements contributing to highway accidents were substandard
road way alignment or geometry, lack of shoulders and shoulder defects, absent or
inappropriate pedestrian facilities, narrow and defective lanes and bridges/bridge approaches,
roadside hazards, undefined pavement centre and edge lines, poor sight distances and
visibility, unmarked and inappropriate design of intersections, serious delineation deficiencies
along the route, haphazard bus shelters/stops, and others. In many of these cases “running-off-
road” accidents involved vehicles leaving the carriageway and falling down the unprotected
steep drops into ditches, accounting for nearly 60 percent of total, “ running-off-road” and
“out-of-control” accidents. Roadside trees were involved in about 20 percent of these accident
types. Studies are underway at Accident Research Centre for identification and treatments of
hazardous road locations using standard definitions, criteria and methods together with field
observations so that the cost effective countermeasures particularly low cost countermeasures
can be devised for highway safety improvements.
7.0 Survey
Number of People
The survey was observed among 20 persons who provide their honest information about their
experience of road accident.
Target People to Survey
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The surveyed people were the road accident victims, witness, police official, hospital official
and some general public who also notice road accident through newspaper and television.
Number of question
The survey questionnaire included 12 questions and it was prepared with a concern to make
the survey simple and effective as much as possible.
Age group
To conduct the survey we have selected the people who are from 16 to above 60 years old.
Though children are also affected by road accident but a 16+ adult and matured person can
give a more clear and concrete thought rather than a below 16 adolescent.
The Education Level of the people of The Survey
This survey was not restricted in to any literacy level. This is because, most of the drivers are
under S.S.C level, on the other hand some highly educated person can be responsible for a
road accident. Besides, roads are open for both literate and illiterate people.
8.0 Data Analysis
The survey questionnaire includes 12 questions among which some questions are just to
initiate the interview; few questions are to instill the surveyed person into the situation and
few questions are to bring out the reality. In order to keep the report free from excessive
details here the analysis is focusing just on the few relevant questions and also some relevant
responses of the questionnaire.
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This survey was based on the subjective view of the people who are either victim or witness
of any road accident. So, in case of some questions the surveyed people have express their
view through more than one option. On the other hand in case of some questions, some
options got no or very few response. As a result, the sum of the percentage of responses will
not be equal to 100%. That is why, the analysis has ignored to express the ratio of responses
to the options, and in fact the following analysis has highlighted only some significant and
crucial questions as well some selected answer options.
Q. No. 1 How it happened/ what type of road accident it was?
Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ’Collision
with Bus’ by 35%. Rest of the two options got 2nd focus by 25% response among other
options. This question was intended to know the most obvious case or type of road accident in
people’s view. The responses explain that the most common type is “Collision with Bus”.
Along with this Hit pedestrian and sudden loss of control is also seen off and on. So, it can be
stated that bus is more involved in road accident as well as pedestrians are also not free from
faults.
Q. No. 2 In your point of view, who was the actual responsible for the accident/whom fault it was?
Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ’Opposite
Driver’ by 70%. 2nd focus is on “Passenger/Pedestrian” by 25% response and little focus on
“your driver or own driver” and “authority” by 10%. This question was intended to know
who or what instigate the accident. The responses explain that the opposite driver instigate the
accidents in most cases. Like previous explanation, pedestrian are also responsible for huge
number of the accidents. Along with this Hit pedestrian and sudden loss of control is also seen
off and on. So, it can be stated that bus is more involved in road accident as well as
pedestrians are also not free from faults.
Options of The Questions Number of Responds In Percentage
Your driver 2 10%
opposite driver 14 70%
Passenger/Pedestrian 4 25%
Authority 2 10%
Options of The Questions Number of Responds In Percentage
Collision with Bus 7 35%
Hit Pedestrian/during road crosses 5 25%
sudden loss of controls on the vehicle 5 25%
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Q. No. 3 What were the probable measures that could have been taken to avoid the accident?
Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ‘Road
Divider’ by 70%. Rest of the two options got 2nd focus by 5% & 4% response among other
options. This question was intended to know the general reason of the road accident in
people’s view. The responses explain that the general reason in most cases is “Training of the
Drivers” which instigate the accident.
Q. No. 4 Do you think that rate of road accident has been increased in recent days? Why?
Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ‘Yes’ by
100%. This question was intended to know people’s view on road accident status in recent
days. The responses explain a strong believe on the increasing rate of road accident. Along
with this, different respondent showed different reason behind this increasing rate.
Q. No. 5 Which side is more vulnerable you think? Why?
Interpretation
& Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ‘Highways’ by 65%. 2nd focus
is on “Inside Dhaka city” by 35% response. This question was intended to know the most
vulnerable side or most likeable area for road accident. The responses explain that Highways
are most vulnerable to road accident than Inside Dhaka City. Although the percentage of
vulnerability of Inside Dhaka city is not that much small but it is lower than Highways.
Q. No.6 Which type of Vehicle is more involved in Road Accident?
Options of The Questions Number of Responds In Percentage
Yes 20 100%
No 0 0
Little Bit 0 0
Options of The Questions Number of Responds In Percentage
Road divider 4 20%
Training of the drivers 14 70%
Monitoring by traffic police 5 25%
Options of The Questions Number of Responds In Percentage
Bus 16 80%
Truck 10 50%
CNG 3 15%
Ricksha 2 10%
Options of The Questions Number of Responds In Percentage
Highways 13 65%
Inside Dhaka City 7 35%
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Interpretation & Analysis: The table shows the highest response to the option ’Bus’ by
70%. 2nd focus is on “Truck” by 10% response and little focus on “CNG” and “Ricksha” by
15% and 10%. This question was intended to know what type of vehicle is mostly involved in
road accidents. The responses explain that Bus and Trucks are mostly involved in road
accident. Like previous explanation, Buses are the medium of accidents in most of the cases in
both highways and inside Dhaka city.
9.0 Findings
Along with the survey result this report has also studied the supportive previous researches to
get the logical support behind the survey findings. At first, the study will extract the result
from survey and then will get the logical support from the previous research.
9.1 Findings from survey
The table below is a snapshot of the gist of survey finding-
Table 1: Survey Finding
Points Status
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Most obvious case of Road accident Collision with Bus, Hit pedestrian, Sudden loss of control
Mostly involved vehicle in road accident Bus, TruckResponsible for the accident Opposite driver, PedestrianReason behind the accident Lack of Training of The DriverMost vulnerable side Highways
So, the overall survey result explains that Road accidents are increasing and highways are
more vulnerable to road accident than inside Dhaka city. Bus and trucks are mostly involved
in road accidents. Trucks and buses are the major contributors (80%) to road accident
fatalities. Buses and trucks are most frequently involved in “running-off-road” (and hitting
roadside objects), “head-on” and “out-of-control” types of accidents. Drivers of buses and
trucks coming from opposite side are the most obvious to generate the accident. The first and
foremost reason behind this is the lack of training of these drivers.
Besides, Pedestrian and passengers are also responsible for the road accident in some cases.
Sometime their careless movements and disregard attitude toward traffic rules make the
drivers helpless that cause accident. Both pedestrians and drivers on the one hand had
incomplete knowledge of traffic rules, and on the other hand, the observed behavior proved
that they disregarded the rules. This blatant, and at times nonchalant, disregard for traffic rules
can only spell disaster, and it is.
Vulnerability Issues
This report has tried to identify some vulnerable issues which acts like a seed and generates
the road accident with the help of causes behind road accidents. The table below shows the
vulnerability of road accident in both aspects according to the respondent of the survey.
Highways in Bangladesh Inside Dhaka city
Absence of road divider and speed breaker Density of population
Lack of signage and traffic signals Increased vehicles
Lack of traffic police Congested road
Over speed in straight road Inactive traffic system
Overtaking tendency Lack of speed breakers
Bad condition of the road
Table 2: Vulnerable issues in National highways and Dhaka city according to the respondent
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9.2 Findings from Supportive research
At first the focus has been given on identifying the most vulnerable side, then it followed by
identifying the vulnerable issues. Following below is the accident record in highways of the
country from 1998 to 2007.
Table3: Black spots in national highways from 1998 to 2007
Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
In order to focus on the other part of the analysis following table shows the no of accident in
different areas of Dhaka city.
Table 4: Black spots in national highways from 1998 to 2009
Sl. No. Name of the area No. of AccidentsJatrabari 158