The Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association has reported that 116,726 people have been killed and 165,021 injured in 67,890 road accidents in the past decade.

Referring to the death toll of more than a lakh in the last 12 years as a genocide on the roads, the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association says that during the same period, the number of deaths in Gaza in the Israel-Palestine war was 67,000. The number of deaths in the Ukraine-Russia war was 45,000. The number of people who have died in these wars is several times higher than the number of people who have died in road accidents in Bangladesh. The current interim government’s activities to stop such serial killings on the roads are also questionable.

The organization says that before independence, safe and affordable waterways and railways were the main means of transportation in the country, accounting for 80 percent of people’s travel, while roads accounted for 20 percent. Therefore, road accidents were limited to 20 percent.

After independence, in the name of road development and reform, one after another, on the prescription of donor agencies, there was unaccountable looting, reckless extortion on the roads, and instead of building a multi-dimensional transport system, 80 percent of the people’s travel was brought to the roads by building new roads, which led to an 80 percent increase in accidents. Therefore, Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association Secretary General Md. Mozammel Haque Chowdhury blamed the government’s corruption and mismanagement for the massacre on the roads.

Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, Secretary General of the organization, made the allegation at a press conference organized by the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on the occasion of National Road Safety Day-2025 on Tuesday (October 21) afternoon.

He said that due to the unlimited irregularities, corruption, mismanagement of the previous Awami League government in the road transport sector, extortion and anarchy by transport owners-workers and some corrupt police officers, road chaos, free movement of unfit vehicles, unlicensed drivers, underage drivers, defects on the road, drug use by drivers, reckless speeding, issuing licenses to unqualified drivers, and handing over vehicles to unlicensed and untrained drivers, according to information published in the media in the country from 2014 to September 2025 of the interim government, 1 lakh 16 thousand 726 people were killed and 1 lakh 65 thousand 21 people were injured in 67 thousand 890 road accidents.

Although the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association received this information only by monitoring the media, figures from the country’s hospitals indicate that the number of casualties is several times higher.

Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said that although Bangladesh has made progress in various fields since independence, it has been expanding roads one after another by stopping the use of safe and affordable waterways and railways on the prescription of donor agencies for a long time, increasing the pressure on roads instead of building an integrated public transport system along with increasing road use, and in comparison, mass transit on roads has not been increased. Pedestrian walking infrastructure has not been developed. Due to the lack of improved public transport, people’s daily commute is suffering and becoming unbearable. Capitalizing on the terrible transport crisis, battery-powered auto-rickshaws, ride-sharing motorcycles, CNG-powered auto-rickshaws, local garage-made Nasimon-Karimon, Mahindra made in neighboring countries, and pickup vans converted into Lagunas have been used for passenger transport, causing the bus network to collapse. Traffic congestion and accidents on the roads have increased uncontrollably.

He said, in the history of the country, Obaidul Quader, as the Minister of Roads for more than a decade, has drastically increased the number of accidents and fatalities on the roads due to extreme mistakes in stopping chaos in transport and strategic transport planning. Despite the change of government due to the student-public movement, the policies and strategies of the Road Transport Ministry, the regulatory body BRTA and the Traffic Department have not changed, so such accidents are not being curbed. As a result, there is no visible progress in stopping massacres on the roads, reducing traffic congestion and accidents, and establishing discipline on the roads.

Stating that if transparency and accountability cannot be ensured in the institutions engaged in controlling road accidents and traffic congestion, visible progress in this sector is not possible, Mozammel Haque said, “If the initiative to reform the transport sector as an urgent public sector is not taken, the suffering of the common people of the country will increase further. The current interim government has taken the initiative to register battery-powered auto-rickshaws instead of introducing improved public transport. Due to ignorance, inexperience and various flaws in this process, if this program is started, Dhaka and Chittagong cities will become impassable due to auto-rickshaws within a year. Therefore, after reversing such a decision, he demanded that mass transit (underground metro rail) be arranged in every divisional city including Dhaka-Chittagong as a government initiative.”

He said, if at least two bus rapid transit lanes are launched in every divisional city including Dhaka and Chittagong on the basis of digital transactions as a government initiative, the order of transportation will return to the model of developed countries. The speed of travel will increase. Accidents and fatalities on the road will decrease. People’s travel suffering will decrease. The image of the country will increase. Transport owners and workers will not be released from the hostage situation.

In this situation, ahead of the Road Safety Day on Wednesday (October 22), he presented 12 urgent recommendations to protect the lives and property of thousands of people in the country from road accidents and reduce the suffering of commuting.

The recommendations are:

1. An integrated transportation network must be developed by coordinating with the lost waterways and railways and roads.

2. The transportation sector must be completely reformed to stop extortion, irregularities, corruption, and violence between employers and workers.

3. Mass transit (underground metro rail) should be arranged by the government in every divisional city including Dhaka and Chittagong.

4. At least two bus rapid transit (separate, high-quality bus lanes) lanes should be introduced in every divisional city including Dhaka and Chittagong on the basis of digital transactions as a government initiative.

5. A strong bus network should be developed across the country to provide quality buses from district cities to upazilas.

6. Effective initiatives must be taken to stop the import and marketing of motorcycles, battery-powered auto-rickshaws, and CNG-powered auto-rickshaws.

7. Transport drivers should be trained at the state’s expense by creating an advanced curriculum.

8. Traffic police activities should be digitized on the model of developed countries. Traffic training academies should be established.

9. Road accident cases should be taken into consideration by the government. Every casualty should be covered under compensation.

10. The opinions and participation of passenger representatives and victims must be ensured in every forum for decision-making in the interests of passengers in the transport sector.

11. Good governance in the road sector must be ensured. Responsible government officials must be held accountable.

12. Separate lanes and safe sidewalks must be provided for cyclists and pedestrians across the country.

Also present at the event were Sharif Rafiquzzaman, President of the Passenger Welfare Association, Abdul Haque, President of Barvida, and Badal Ahmed, Chairman of the Drivers Welfare Association.