Table of Contents

1. Executive Summery

2. Introduction: -- a. Background3. Estimating National Road Fatalities 4. BRTA Precautions - Accident Data 5. Statistical Data Related to Road Accidents6. Causes of Road Accidents 7. Economics Cost8. Road Safety Audits9. Latest Report of The Financial Express10. Recommendation 11. References 12. Conclusion 13. Appendices

Executive Summary

Road vehicular accidents in Bangladesh have been so frequent and common to everyday life that people tend to disregard that these high velocity moving lumps of metal are very lethal and sometimes pose as weapons of mass destruction. The problem in road safety transcends the transport sector. It is a health, social, and economic problem as well. The health sector would have to stretch its bed capacity in order to administer to the victims while still overseeing other important illnesses. Families are displaced and their futures shattered because of the sudden demise of their breadwinners, which is a social welfare problem. Accidents lay off workers, which eventually, if summed up, will translate to millions of pesos of potential lost productivity thereby affecting domestic production and the economy. It was observed that in Metro Manila, traffic management policies have been implemented without much study, translating to confusion and eventually mishaps. The scale and magnitude of the effects of road accidents on the lives of the people involved and the society in general must be clearly defined for purposes of raising awareness and as an input to the planning and evaluation of the governments road safety intervention measures.

Using the Gross Output methodology, which employs the Human Capital Approach to costing, economic and social costs of accidents have been determined. Medical expenses and lost incomes of the victims have been taken into account. Administration cost incurred by legal entities that oversee accident investigation was also considered. Property damages such as vehicle repair costs were also analyzed and were added up to the total resources lost. An amount for the pain grief and suffering of the victim and their dependents was also calculated. The authors wish that road safety be given importance by providing a picture of the worsening effects of road accidents to our society and economy.

Introduction

Thousands of people die on the world's road every day. It is said that in a global context about one million persons die out of road accidents. The poor countries have about 40 percent of world's motor vehicles but have 86 percent fatalities. In some countries, more than 10 percent of the hospital beds are occupied by persons injured in road accidents. In low and middle income countries, the cost of road traffic injuries is estimated at US$ 65 million, exceeding the total amount these countries receive in development assistance. Road traffic injuries cost countries between 1% and 2% of gross national product, amounting to US$ 518 billion every year.

Bangladesh has a very high road accident fatality rate with official figures indicating more than 60 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles. Everyday around eight persons die in road accidents. The number of accidents has increased by 43% between 1982 and 2000, while the number of fatalities has increased by around 400% within the same period. This indicates that not only the occurrence of accidents is on the rise, the severity of accidents is also increasing. As the population, total road length and modal share of road transport continue to grow in the country, the number of casualties from road accidents is expected to maintain its rising trend.

BackgroundThe problem of deaths and injury as a result of road accidents is now acknowledged to be a global phenomenon with authorities in virtually all countries of the world concerned about the growth in the number of people killed and seriously injured on their roads. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in its annual publications provides data relating to road accidents. The Statistical Year Book (2000) contains figures from 1987 to 2000. The total number of accidents during the above period ranged from 1,521 in 1987 to 3,419 in 2000, a rise of 125 percent. Of these, the causalities in 1987 were 1,156, which rose by 164 percent in 2000, thus increasing the number to 3,050. The number injured was 1,988 in 1987, which rose to 2,653, a rise of 33 percent. This is an issue of major concern.BBS data referred to earlier do not report number of accidents for the year 1995. The available data covering a period of thirteen years indicate that the total number of road accidents was 38,464 and the number killed was 26,363. Thus on an average about 69 percent deaths were reported, which is less than the global average of 86 percent. This data, however, has to be accepted with a note of caution. This is because of inconsistencies in official data. According to the official statistics, there were about 4000 fatalities only from Road Traffic accident in 2000. An estimate shows that in 2000 there were 3970 no. of accidents causing 4046 no. of fatalities estimating 2270 no of injuries and 162.9 deaths per 10000 vehicles.(Source: Bangladesh Police HQ)Between 70 - 80 % of RTAs (Road Traffic Accidents) occur on highways and rural roads. Up to 70% of road accidents are pedestrian alone. Trucks and buses are major contributor to road traffic accident fatalities.(Source: Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health)From a hospital based study, it has been found that injury patients comprised more than one fifth of all admissions and about half (49.8 %) of all surgical beds of a district hospital.(Source: Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health)

Estimating Road Fatalities

Bangladesh has a high road accident fatality rate with approximately 60 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles. The number of accidents has increased by 43% between 1982 and 2000. But due to close government monitoring, improved laws and more technologically advanced vehicles the number of fatal road accidents have decreased to 5.2%.Deaths by road user category:Pedestrians 54%Cyclists 3%Passengers 4 wheelers 22%Riders motorized 2 or 3 wheelers 8%Drivers 4 wheelers 4%Others 9%

The Road Traffic Accident database is being maintained and updated by BRTA on the basis of police MAAP (Micro-Computer Accident Analysis Package) information. BRTA and the Bangladesh Police have been working together to maintain the integrity of the database and promoting its statistical accuracy. The shortcoming of the database is that it is prepared on the basis of reported accidents only. Its a fact that there exist some accidents in the country side which are not reported to the police, making the database virtually incomplete. However, it will invariably serve the purpose as it covers most and major parts of the accidents of the country.

BRTA PrecautionsBangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is the apex Government Organization in the road transport sector under the Ministry of Communication mandated for providing services namely Registration of Motor Vehicles, Issuance of fitness certificate of motor vehicles, Issuance of Route permit for Transport Vehicles, Issuance of Motor Driving Licenses, Issuance of Motor Driving Instructors License, Registration of Motor Driving Training Schools, Inspection of Motor Vehicles involved in road accidents, Inspection of Government Vehicles for Repair etc. Besides, BRTA takes different measures in order to promote road safety and coordinates road safety prevention activities undertaken by different agencies/organizations. BRTA prepares the Annual Report of Road Traffic Accidents on the basis of reported data on road traffic accidents from Bangladesh Police. Using the data received from the Police BRTA has already published 7 consecutive annual reports since 2001. BRTA believes that the Report will help find gap in the activities aiming at reducing accidents by the road safety practitioners.

The Road Traffic Accident database is being maintained and updated by BRTA on the basis of police MAAP (Micro-Computer Accident Analysis Package) information. BRTA and the Bangladesh Police have been working together to maintain the integrity of the database and promoting its statistical accuracy. The shortcoming of the database is that it is prepared on the basis of reported accidents only. Its a fact that there exist some accidents in the country side which are not reported to the police, making the database virtually incomplete. However, it will invariably serve the purpose as it covers most and major parts of the accidents of the country.

BRTA believe that despite of shortcoming, this report will be helpful to the researchers, planners, administrators and other stakeholders for making future plan aiming at reducing road traffic accidents in Bangladesh. Any suggestions in relation to this report will be accepted cordially.

Statistical Data Related to Road AccidentsThese are some of the basic data that were put by the daily star in recent times and they have mentioned the main causes of road accidents in Bangladesh:It is said that in a global context about one million persons die out of road accidents. The poor countries have about 40 percent of worlds motor vehicles but have 86 percent fatalities. In some countries, more than 10 percent of the hospital beds are occupied by persons injured in road accidents. In low and middle income countries, the cost of road traffic injuries is estimated at US$ 65 million, exceeding the total amount these countries receive in development assistance. Road traffic injuries cost countries between 1% and 2% of gross national product, amounting to US$ 518 billion every year.Thousands of people die on the worlds road everyday. We are not talking about random events or accidents. We are talking about road crashes. The risks can be understood and therefore can be prevented, said Dr. LEE Jong-wook, Director-General, and World Health Organization. Road safety is no accident. We have the knowledge to act now. It is a question of political will, he added.Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in its annual publications provides data relating to road accidents. The Statistical Year Book (2000) contains figures from 1987 to 2000. The total number of accidents during the above period ranged from 1,521 in 1987 to 3,419 in 2000, a rise of 125 percent. Of these, the causalities in 1987 was 1,156, which rose by 164 percent in 2000, thus increasing the number to 3,050. The number injured was 1,988 in 1987, which rose to 2,653, a rise of 33 percent. This is an issue of major concern.BBS data referred to earlier do not report number of accidents for the year 1995. The available data covering a period of thirteen years indicate that the total number of road accidents was 38,464 and the number killed was 26,363. Thus on an average about 69 percent deaths were reported, which is less than the global average of 86 percent. This data, however, has to be accepted with a note of caution. This is because of inconsistencies in official data. Thus for the year 2000, the annual report of Bangladesh Police had reported fatal accidents at 3,058 and not 3,050 as reported in BBS document. Besides, there is always the problem of underreporting by the police. A survey report by the Department for International Development (DFID) concluded that as few as between 3 and 13 percent of road traffic injuries were being reported by police (Aeron-Thomas, 2000). Other recent studies point out that hospitals are not a good source of data to check the under-reporting of road deaths. This is because families may be reluctant to take bodies to hospital to avoid any post-mortem requirement which could postpone burial. Besides, families may like to avoid the hassle associated with the process of post-mortem. A recent study, based on household survey data, concluded that the actual number of road deaths occurring in Bangladesh is at over 8,000 and currently estimated to be 12,786, which is at least 2.6-4.2 times greater than that included in official statistics.Causes of Road Accidents

The causes are not entirely unknown but need to be restated. The major ones include (1) rapid increase in the number of vehicles, (ii) more paved roads leading to higher speed, (iii) inconsistent road-use environment, lack of signs and markings and road surface, (iv) poor-driving and road use knowledge, skill and awareness, (v) poor traffic management and enforcement, (vi) lack of appropriate road safety interventions and (vii) poor medical services.Rapid increase in number of vehiclesIn 1990, the total number of mechanized vehicles on road was 221,526. In 2000, the number rose to 427,156 in 2000. Thus the number almost doubled. The compound growth rate works out at about 7 percent. The types of mechanized vehicles include car, buses, micro-buses, truck, auto-rickshaw, jeep, taxi, tractor, motor cycle, trawler and others (BBS, 2000). Of these, the highest growth in percentage was in case of microbus (2,119%), followed by auto-rickshaw (200%), motor cycle (88%), car (80%) and truck (55%).Growth in paved roadsBBS (2000) data on Roads and Highways Department (RHD) roads covers the period from 1984 to 2000. The total length in km was 9,387, which rose to 21,174 in 2000, a growth rate of 125 percent. If the total length of paved roads under Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is added, this would further increase. Available information indicates that in 2003, the total length in km of LGED roads was 214,932 which is ten times higher than that of RHD. It is said that road design and safety standards are often compromised for various reasons which need serious investigation.Lack of signs and markingsAlthough the above is true to some extent but it is by no means the whole truth. Even where signs and markings are there, this is hardly obeyed by the drivers. There is little enforcement.Poor driving, road use knowledge and skill and awarenessThis is perhaps one of the most important one of all causes. It is not only a question of poor driving and skill; it is more a question of reckless driving specially by the buses and trucks. On the highways, the buses and trucks are seen to be engaged in a deadly competition to overtake one another by accelerated speed. Much of these can be ascribed to the mal-practices involved in issuing licenses. There is no rigorous application of required standards of performance in granting driving licenses. A Bengali daily (Janakantha, April 4, 2004) has drawn attention to the fact that about 90 percent of the diving licenses in Dhaka city are fake.

Poor traffic management and enforcementPoor traffic management and enforcement are most visible in the streets of metropolitan areas. While much of it can be attributed to dereliction on the part of the traffic police, it is also true that vehicle drivers as well as pedestrians contribute in no small measure to road accidents. Most vehicles do not obey traffic signs or wish to be regulated. A vast majority of pedestrians do not like to use over-bridges or under-passes built at a huge cost to ensure their safety. Police have given up the idea of enforcement.

Economic Cost

The above study has estimated the national cost of road accidents. The elements taken into consideration to calculate the costs include property damage, administration, lost output, medical and human. The estimated cost is Tk. 38 billion or US$ 644 million. This is said to be 1.5 percent of GDP and three times annual expenditure of the RHD. The study has claimed that even the above estimate is conservative because it has not taken into consideration such other factors as (a) number and cost of permanently disabled, (b) travel time lost to road accidents, (c) value prevention i.e. how much public would be willing to spend to reduce risk of road accident.

There are a lot of accident related costs they are given below,

1. Medical cost: Medical costs include emergency medical services, both inpatient and out patient cost, prescription costs, x-rays and rehabilitation costs. Collecting data on this particular field is difficult as they rarely account for only 5%. Often neither the health minister nor a hospital is able to say about the data as the expenses or subsidies charge varies. But the simplest way to measure this cost is to count the expenditure and divide it by the number of inpatient admit and outpatient visit in the hospital

2. Administration cost: The administration cost is high compare to the medical cost. They carry almost 25% of the accident cost. The administration cost includes the licenses, the company lost of amount and police charge etc. This takes place every time an accident occurs simply for long time of period or short time of period. This cost is simply carried of until the case of the accident is clear.

3. Vehicle Damage cost: this cost is high than any other cost of accidents. Every time an accident takes place a lot of vehicles verges and that automatically carries through a lot of money. So it is said in all the data that almost 50% of the road accident cost are vended under this cost. The simple way of calculating this cost is to divide the number of accidents by the number of vehicles damaged in an accident

4. Property Damage cost: Property Damage cost carries almost 20% of the road accident cost. When an accident takes place it damages a lot of property as well. This cost is in technical for the kilometer calculation because the place where the accident occurs can be big or can be small. Compare the size of the accident area we can easily calculate this cost.

These are the four main costs of road accidents.

Economic impact on the poorThe study (2003) referred to earlier has also drawn attention to the economic impact on the poor caused by road accidents. It is said that the heads of households or their spouses are often the fatal victims of road accidents. This has an adverse economic impact on other members of the families. It is estimated by the study that about 32 percent of road deaths occurred to poor heads of households or spouses compared to 21 percent for the non-poor. The study findings indicated that for the 70 percent poor, the household income, food consumption and food production decreased following road deaths. For the non-poor, the impacts were less with 54 percent reporting loss of income.The coping strategy adopted by the affected families, as analyzed in the study, shows that it is a combination of borrowing and sale of assets for the poor. Compensation received by affected families is negligible. One-quarter of the poor families are reported to have received private compensation compared to 14 percent of the non-poor. Compensation from institutional sources is said to be virtually non-existent.From what has been stated above, it is clear that road safety remains an area of major concern not only because of the cost to the economy due to an ever-increasing trend in road accidents, but also the impact on the poor. It has been argued that road safety rests on three pillar. First, the engineering interventions. Second, enforcement of laws and regulations. Third, awareness and education. There is need to address all these and other related issues with the seriousness that they deserve.

Road Safety Audits

BRTA and other organizations working on the safety measures of road accidents have published a report and their they said,It has been estimated that over 300,000 people die and about 10 to 15 million people are injured annually in road accidents throughout the world. Road accidents cost around 1.0 per cent of developing countries gross national product (GNP).

In recent years, the road safety situation in Bangladesh has deteriorated alarmingly. According to the latest statistics, fatality per 10,000 vehicles in Bangladesh is about 85 which is about 30 in India and about two in developed countries. In Bangladesh, recorded annual fatality is about 5,000 (recorded at site) which in fact could be as high as 15,000 (which accounts for deaths at hospitals within 30 days of the accident); and the number of people disabled due to an accident could be as high as 50,000. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) projection, death due to road traffic accidents in the year 2020 will be in third place after heart disease and major depression.

Major features of road accidents in developing countries reveals that, 40-50 per cent of the people killed are pedestrians; about 20 per cent of the killed and injured people are less than 15 years old; about 50 per cent of road accident deaths are related to motorcyclists (the figure in Bangladesh is much less but slowly rising); and mostly poor people are the victims of the road accidents.

Land use and transport planning can have effects on road safety, both in short and long terms. It is essential that land use planners understand traffic and safety implications before land development schemes are finalized. It is therefore essential to ensure that those involved are fully aware of the road safety consequences, and implications of their proposals does not create additional road safety problems in future.

Urban areas contain complex interaction of land use and human activities. The safety aspects of road networks can be checked by carrying out a safety audit. The key safety principles will be related to road hierarchy and process of any road or transport project, land use and access control. Land use in urban areas change continuously, consistent control of such changes is required for effective traffic planning, traffic management and improvement of road safety.Now they have mentioned a formal examination procedure just to raise safety and this procedure is known as RSA. The BRTA official said,

Road safety audits or RSA can greatly reduce the accidents

A Road Safety Audit (RSA) is a formal examination of future road or a traffic project or on an existing road in which an independent, qualified team reports on the project's crash potentials and safety performance. The essential element of RSA is that it is a formal process and not an informal check; it is carried out by people who are independent of design; it is also carried out by people with appropriate experience and training; and it is restricted to road safety issues.

Through road safety audit, it is possible to identify hazardous sections of the road network so that appropriate remedial measures can be undertaken to reduce the likelihood and severity of accidents at those locations. It has proven to be one of the most cost-effective ways of improving road safety in developed countries. Studies have shown that the three contributing factors in motor vehicle crashes are human factors; road environment factors; and vehicle factors. The three factors often combine in a chain of events which result in an accident. Addressing the road environment factors through road safety audit breaks a link in the chain of events that leads to many accidents. It only takes one of the links to be broken to prevent an accident or reduce its consequences.

The four opportunities for road safety audit within the design and development process of any road or transport project, regardless of the size or nature of the project are: at the feasibility study stage; when preliminary design has been developed; once the detail design is completed; and at the pre-opening stage. In addition, RSA may also be conducted for road traffic management (required during construction of significant projects like flyover, expressway etc.); on the existing road network (at accident prone locations); proposed land use developments; and special audit for specific road user groups (pedestrians, cyclists, motor cyclists, public transport etc.).

While carrying out RSA, the audit team's focus should be different for rural and urban areas. For urban areas, the audit team should focus on street lighting, location of utility poles, adequacy of roadside parking, location of bus stops, visibility at junctions, drainage condition etc.; whereas for rural areas, the focus could be on guard fence, clearance to hazards, sight distance at junctions, deficiency in alignment, adequacy of delineation etc.

Through different studies it has been evidenced that RSA pay for themselves many times over through reduction in crash numbers and crash severity. An evaluation of 13 pilot road safety improvement projects in Denmark has revealed that there is a 143 per cent first year rate of return for the investment. A study carried out in Australia reports positively about the benefits that has been achieved after implementing mitigation measures based on the recommendation of the audit team.

Experience in road safety engineering is the most essential ingredient of any safety audit team. This team should have an understanding of (i) traffic engineering and traffic management, (ii) road design and construction techniques, (iii) and road user behavior. Specialist, independent audit teams can be established within large road authorities and large consultant companies. For other organizations involved with road and traffic design, individual road safety audit specialists may be engaged.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) publishes Road Traffic Accident Reports annually; the report covers in-depth analysis of accident data. According to these annual reports, about 50 per cent of the fatal accidents occur on some specific national highways; predominantly, fatal accidents involve vehicles hitting pedestrians; the largest number of fatal accidents involve buses and heavy vehicles; and the highest number of fatalities per accidents occurs when vehicles collide head on. BRTA statistics also records accident information based on gender and age group. In addition to the information on national and regional roads, information on City Corporation roads are also collected. These information could be useful to the road safety audit teams for designing their methodology.

The latest report of The Financial Express

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has road safety unit, engineers from these units can be trained to carry out RSA. In the case of the city corporations and Rajuk, they can engage specialist consultants (like Accident Research Institute of BUET) to carry out RSA. It is important that prior to conducting an RSA for any existing road or any new transport projects, sufficient funds should be available to the road agencies or within the project to carry out the mitigation works to be recommended by the RSA team. In the context of Dhaka city, it is high time that the Dhaka City Corporation prepares a road safety improvement plan (to be implemented in phases) for the safety of pedestrians in some selected road corridors, and school zones and market zones which would vastly improve the safety situation for the pedestrians. Both RHD and LGED spend more than Tk 30 billion (more than US$ 400 million) for road construction and maintenance annually but with very little allocation for road safety. It is high time that both RHD and LGED prepare a long term road safety improvement plan, and carry out mitigation measures based on RSA audit team recommendations at specific road locations.

Currently, three major transport projects (Kuril flyover, Jatrabari flyover, and elevated expressway) are being implemented within Dhaka city; on an urgent basis the implementing agencies should carryout RSA through independent auditor and undertake necessary remedial measure to avoid any major disaster. Outside Dhaka city, there are several locations which are very much accident prone, for example the highway adjacent to Savar EPZ, section of highway on the western side of the Jamuna bridge and section of Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, where the highway agency should urgently carry out RSA, and implement recommendation of the audit team to improve the road safety situation.

Recommendations

With the high growth of road accidents throughout the developing world, it is essential that adequate sums of money are spent in dealing with the problem. In the absence of an estimate of accident-related economic issues, it is difficult to identify the sums of money that should be invested each year on road safety counter measures .The first need for accident cost valuations, therefore, is at the level of national resource planning to ensure that road safety is given adequate priority in terms of investment in its improvement.

A second need for road accident cost figures is to ensure that the best use is made of any investment and that the best (and most appropriate) safety improvements are introduced in terms of the benefits they might generate in relation to their cost.

Various methods exist for costing road accidents but the method currently recommended for use in the developing world is the gross output or human capital approach. The method takes into account the loss of current resources such as vehicle damage, medical treatment, police and administration costs, and damage to street furniture. It also attempts to cost the loss of future resources by considering the loss to society of a persons output when that person is killed or injured.

In using the gross output method, a sum is usually included to reflect pain, grief, and suffering of the accident victim and to those who care for the victim. Accidents are usually costed by degree of severity so that separate values are determined for fatal, serious, slight, and damage-only accidents. The national cost of road accidents is then determined by multiplying the costs by accident severity by the number of those accidents taking place each year.

Once the total extent of the human casualty toll and economic costs of road accidents is known, the road safety situation will be better appreciated by politicians and decision makers and the case made for increased road safety investment. Road accident costs can then begin to be used to justify safety measures, and be considered along with construction and maintenance costs in the cost benefit analysis of road improvement projects.

Road traffic accidents (RTA) are commonly viewed in terms of individual personal losses or as general statistics. Unlike aviation or rail accidents (where frequently, many persons may die in a single accident), the large-scale economic and social impact of road accidents is rarely appreciated, as road accident deaths and casualties normally only happen in ones and twos. The costing attempts to estimate the annual cumulative losses incurred by a country as a result of road accidents.

An estimate of the total national cost of road accidents will help Government realize the heavy economic losses (typically between 1 percent and 2 percent of gross domestic product [GDP] being incurred annually). This will encourage them to invest in road safety improvements to reduce those losses and to see expenditure on road safety as an investment and not as a cost.

PRIORITY ACTIONS NEEDED

1. Until local estimates are available, assume 1-2 percent of national gross domestic product (GDP) is lost annually through road accidents.2. Prepare interim local estimates of the costs of road accidents by severity using the approach recommended by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) of the United Kingdom (UK).3. Set in motion a research project at a university or economic research institute to prepare accurate valuations of road accident costs by severity using the gross output method.

Once the total cost of road accident losses is known, an optimal safety budget can be determined and adequate resources can start to be justified for road safety. If the results are publicized, a road accident costing procedure should also be able to galvanize public and political support and generate private sector support for road safety. Road accidents will be shown to have many more victims and much wider and serious economic consequences than is commonly realized. The economic losses to the country are often viewed more seriously by governments than the thousands of persons killed or crippled each year. Being able to estimate the economic losses provides a means of attaining political interest in and support for road safety initiatives. It also tends to galvanize press and media support for safety initiatives to reduce such losses.

References

Asian Development Bank, Road Safety Guidelines for the Asia and Pacific Region, AsianDevelopment Bank, 1997-2008

Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, Road Accidents: 1998 -2008

The Casualty Report, Government Statistical Service, 1999 -2008

Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, Road Accidents: 1996-2008

The Casualty Report, Government Statistical Service, 1997-2008

Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 1995 -2008

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World DisastersReport1998, Geneva, 1998-2008

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 1996, Department of Transportation, , 1997- 2008

The PHARE Multi-Country Road Safety Study, Interim Report 1 Volume 3 Accident Data Report, February 1999 -2008

World Health Organization, World Health Statistics 1996, Geneva, 1997 -2008

World Health Organization, The World Health Report 1999: Making a Difference, Geneva,

Conclusion

In conclusion, this study has attempted to identify the magnitude and nature of the road safety problem in Bangladesh. Hopefully the newly formed GRSP can assist in the reduction of this global toll of death and injury by the mechanism of partnerships between the public and private sectors which promote collaboration and coordination of road safety activities nationwide.

The high rate of fatal accidents in Bangladesh is cause for alarm and unacceptable. The creation of NRSC and adoption of Road Safety Strategic Action Plans are welcome moves towards improving road safety. However, not many tangible results have been achieved so far. It is imperative to review the measures adopted to identify the problems of implementation and improve or modify them so that they can be more effective.

Majority of the cost acquired from minor injury accident are mostly property damages. Following closely is the administration cost. The value of administration cost clearly shows the resources required by concerned authorities to perform their duties properly. Without this, more under-reporting and inaccuracy of data for accident will be expected, thus giving the vague impression of roadworthiness and road user safety. The wide occurrence of underreporting is one of the threats for any study. Accurate reporting could have given the authorities and policymakers factual values on the damages involved thus they have tools to evaluate existing policies and programs on road safety.

Appendices

Weapons of mass destruction 1Fatality rate 2Road Traffic Accidents 3Micro Computer Accident Analysis Package 4Bangladesh Road Transport Authority 7Department of International Development 8Roads and Highways Departments 9Local Government Engineering Department 9Gross Domestic Product 11 Medical Cost 11Administration Cost 11Vehicle Damage Cost 11Property Damage Cost 12Gross National Product 13World Health Organization 13Road Safety Audits 14Transport Research Laboratory - 18