Citation

Rahman M. Proc. Road Saf. Four Continents Conf. 2007; 14: 15p.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Conference Sponsor)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

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 road safety situation of the country has been deteriorating with increasing number of road accident deaths, largely as direct consequences of rapid population growth and motorization, unplanned urbanization and lack of legitimate investment in road safety. It is predicted to be worsening the road safety situation in the coming years unless this critical problem of epidemic nature is seriously addressed with significant improvements in the relevant sectors. This paper mainly addresses the accident trends and the issues of road safety in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. It also discusses some contemporary issues needed to be addressed for ensuring road safety. Traffic accident data in Bangladesh is very fragmented and oftentimes very inaccurate because of poor reporting and under-reporting. However, injury and fatality rates per 100,000 population have been increasing constantly and the fatality rate per 100,000 vehicles has increased significantly in the past 10 years in Dhaka Metropolitan Area. Prevention of accidents or reduction of the damages are the two ways to ensure road safety, where the most effective way to reduce accident consequences is to prevent the occurrence of accidents. Proper neighborhood design or urban planning also can improve the road traffic safety. Whatever, this should be remembered that traffic safety is a cooperative effort and requires the involvement of all stakeholders and agencies.