Bangladesh is a developing country in South Asia with 144,000 square kilometre area and a population about 130 million. It has more than 20,000 km major road networks and road transport is the prime mode of transport, which carries about 70% of the country's total passenger and freight traffic. It plays an important role to country's economy, so it is essential to develop the network and ensure safety to all road users. A Transport Research Laboratory (TRL, UK) study in Bangladesh, 2001-2002 concluded that "The overall national cost estimated for road accidents in Bangladesh is Taka 39 billion (US$ 0.6 billion), which is about 1.5% of GDP and approximately 3 times of the annual expenditure of Road and Highways Department ((RHD), main road administering organization)." Bangladesh is loosing about Taka 39 billion per year. So, how much is Bangladesh spending per year for road safety works on roads? Mega city Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh has a population of more than 10 million and area about 1500 square kilometre (2001). The road network of Dhaka city with three main corridors, about 500 km primary, secondary and feeder roads and others are narrow roads. The importance of Dhaka increased exponentially after 1971, when it became the capital of independent Bangladesh. As a result the city expanded phenomenally, resulting in an increasing number of road accidents. The current road safety situation in Bangladesh is crucial. For analysing this, one of the most vulnerable corridors, the airport road and the main geometric characteristics, land use pattern, road safety features and accident data were evaluated. Since there is no detailed accident data available at present, accident data was collected and evaluated, then vulnerable study areas were selected according to accident densities for further analysis. However, road safety institutions were visited to know about their role, and responsibilities, strengths, weaknesses, etc. At national level National Road Safety Council and Accident Research Centre and at local level Police and Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB), are the prime institutions for road safety. There is no role of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) regarding road safety, although it's one of the main planning and implementing institutions of Dhaka city. Recently, DTCB is functioning with DCC which may improve the situation. Police, the prime organization responsible for accident data collection has to go through lengthy procedure and they don't have adequate logistic support for maintaining a good data database. They only maintain statistical information of accidents, but detailed information is necessary for a proper analysis to improve the safety situation. Perhaps co-ordination and sharing of data between relevant authorities are essential for better use of accident data. The current database maintained by traffic police has no easy access to the researchers related to road safety improvements. Data accessibility and availability should be improved. In this case study, accident data was evaluated in the selected study areas and then two black spots were analysed. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable victims of accidents. According to the identified problems, possible recommendations are given to enhance safety of the selected study areas as well as the airport road. (Author/publisher)
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