At least 423 people were killed and 674 others injured in 442 road crashes across Bangladesh in September, with an average of 14 deaths reported every day, according to a report by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) today.

The deceased included 73 women and 61 children, said the report, which was prepared based on information from nine national dailies, 17 national and regional online news portals, electronic media and the RSF’s own sources.

Motorcycle crashes accounted for 154 of the accidents, or 34.84 per cent, killing 139 people, or 32.86 per cent of the total fatalities.

Pedestrians accounted for 106 deaths, or 25.05 per cent, while 53 drivers and helpers were killed, representing 12.52 per cent of the total fatalities.

Among vehicle users killed in road crashes, 139 were motorcycle riders, 88 three-wheeler passengers, 26 bus passengers, 21 occupants of microbuses, private cars, ambulances and jeeps, 19 truck, covered-van and trolley occupants, 18 passengers of locally made vehicles and six bicyclists.

The report said 145 crashes, or 32.80 per cent, occurred on national highways, 178 (40.27 per cent) on regional roads, 56 (12.66 per cent) on rural roads and 63 (14.25 per cent) on city roads.

Of the crashes, 168 (38 per cent) involved vehicles losing control, 109 (24.66 per cent) involved pedestrians being run over or hit, 98 (22.17 per cent) were head-on collisions and 61 (13.80 per cent) involved vehicles hitting the rear of another vehicle.

A total of 691 vehicles were involved in the crashes, including 162 motorcycles, 129 three-wheelers and 113 buses.

Dhaka division recorded the highest number of crashes, with 132 incidents leaving 134 people dead. Sylhet recorded the lowest, with 20 crashes and 21 deaths. Gazipur district had the highest number of deaths among individual districts, with 38.

In the capital, 52 road crashes left 21 people dead and 47 injured during the month.

Meanwhile, 16 people were killed, seven injured and four remained missing in 11 waterway accidents during the month. Another 19 people were killed and six injured in 23 railway track accidents.

The RSF called for technology-based monitoring to control vehicle speeds and motivational training for drivers.

It also urged the government to conduct extensive road-safety awareness campaigns through mass and social media to reduce pedestrian deaths.

The organisation identified defective vehicles and roads, reckless speeding, risky driving attitudes, lack of skills and physical or mental fitness, undefined wages and working hours, the movement of slow-moving vehicles on highways, reckless motorcycle riding by young people and inadequate public awareness of traffic laws as major causes of road crashes.