Road safety experts and government officials on Wednesday underscored the urgent need for data-driven interventions to reduce the alarming number of road accidents in Bangladesh.

They came up with the suggestion during a seminar titled “Bangladesh Road Safety”, held at a hotel in Dhaka.

The day-long event, jointly organised by the Road Transport and Highways Division and the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), highlighted the importance of coordinated efforts in ensuring safer roads.

The seminar was supported by the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) and Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP).

Speaking at the inaugural session, Ehsanul Haque, Senior Secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, reiterated the government’s commitment to enacting a comprehensive road safety law in line with World Health Organization guidelines.

“The government is working on drafting the law through consultations with relevant public and private stakeholders. We hope that through coordinated action, we will make Bangladesh’s roads safer in the near future,” he said.

Kelly Larson, Director of Road Safety Programmes at Bloomberg Philanthropies, noted that their organisation is currently working in 27 cities around the world to improve road safety.

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She said Dhaka North and Chattogram joined the initiative in 2020 and are now collaborating with international partners to share experiences and implement effective safety measures.

Highlighting the importance of speed management, she added that the Bangladesh government has already developed a guideline for speed limits based on road types and vehicle categories, and its effective implementation could save countless lives.

Ehsanul Haque and other speakers stressed the need for managing road crash and fatality data, enacting and enforcing integrated road safety laws, regulating speed limits, ensuring the use of seatbelts and quality helmets, and planning and constructing safer roads.

They also emphasised the crucial role of awareness campaigns through the media.

DMP Additional Police Commissioner (Traffic) Md Sarwar said the DMP, in coordination with the DNCC, has been analysing crash data to identify high-risk roads. With support from the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), police officers have received specialised training to enhance road safety enforcement, he said.