Vulnerable road users mostly fall victim to the road traffic fatalities, says a road safety report.
‘Status Summary Report 2022: Road Safety Risk Factors’ was shared with the key stakeholders at Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) at a function at the conference room of the DNCC on Sunday (July 16). The road safety report ignites DNCC’s commitment to safer roads.
The programme was jointly organized by the DNCC, Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU), the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB) and Vital Strategies
Shirin Wadhwaniya of JH-IIRU presented the study findings. During her presentation, Shirin mentioned that vulnerable road users accounted for 83% of reported road traffic fatalities in 2021. In November 2022, a total of 10% of the observed vehicles were travelling above the speed limit. While during the early morning hours (between 4.30 am – 6.00 am), 49% of the observed vehicles were travelling above the speed limit.
She also mentioned that correct helmet use among all occupants was 78%. But correct helmet use among the passengers was only 47%. Seatbelt use was only 57% among the drivers and was very low among passengers (5%). None of the children travelling by vehicle were found using child-seat or child restraint.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has funded the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety 2020-2025 (BIGRS) to address the huge burden of road traffic injuries globally. This project is being implemented in 15 different countries and 28 cities including Dhaka North. As part of the BIGRS, the JH-IIRU is periodically conducting roadside observation study in collaboration with the CIPRB.
As part of the assessment of road safety risk factors in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), three rounds of data were collected since August 2021. A status summary report is developed summarizing key findings from the observational study and highlighting key recommendations.
Md. Selim Reza, chief executive officer (CEO) of DNCC; attended the launching ceremony of Status Summary Report (SSR) as the chief guest. Dr. Salim Mahmud Chowdhury of CIPRB discusses the purpose of the SSR.
In the panel discussion, Md. Sharif Uddin, additional chief engineer of DNCC; stated that road engineering is one of the key factors for ensuring road safety. Additionally, he stated that engineering principles are being used all around the country when designing new roads or improving the existing ones.
Mahbub E Rabbani, director (road safety) of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA); also stated that BRTA is currently working to set speed limits for all types of roads and assigned a safe transportation system in the country.
During the panel discussion, Md. Mamunur Rahman, senior road safety specialist at Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA); added that DTCA has shared engineering design of different types of user-friendly pedestrian crossings. All the designs are available on their own website, he added.
Dr. Nusaer Chowdhury, deputy program manager at Non-Communicable Disease Control (NCDC) program of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS); mentioned that as part of Road Safety, NCDC, DGHS is implementing some activities. Among them, the notables are the development of a strategy and costed action plan for Road Traffic Injury (RTI) victims, conducting research to find out the overall scenario of morbidity, disability, and mortality due to RTI, and developing local volunteers for emergency first aid response for the RTI victims, etc.
Professor Dr. Sohel Reza Chowdhury, director of Department of Epidemiology at National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh; added that RTI is a serious health burden that is increasing day by day. To minimize this, we need a coordinated approach with all the relevant stakeholders.
Speaking as the chief guest, Md. Selim Reza highlighted the current activities taken by DNCC to promote road safety during his speech. He added that the city corporation is implementing road safety activities by developing three circles called Traffic Engineering Circle, Mechanical Circle & Civil Engineering Circle.
He mentioned that road crashes in Bangladesh particularly in the DNCC area had significant economic impact. He also requested the concerned authorities to utilize the findings of the roadside observation study while preparing for future road safety initiatives to achieve the targets of SDGs related to road safety and contribute to the Honorable Prime Minister’s dream of making Bangladesh a developed country by 2041.
He further added that road safety issues have now become a major concern. However, he is optimistic that the involvement of government, non-governmental organizations, and civil society is a good sign for the country.
On behalf of DNCC, Kazi Burhan Uddin, Manager, Road Safety Project, CIPRB expressed his sincere gratitude to the attendees and best wishes for the success of Bloomberg Philanthropies' efforts to promote road safety.
Approximately 1.35 million people die annually across the world due to road crashes as mentioned in the ‘Global Status Report on Road Safety’ published by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018. Moreover, around 20 to 50 million sustain nonfatal injuries as a result of road traffic crashes. WHO reported that an estimated 24,954 people died due to road traffic crash in Bangladesh during 2016.
