REASONS BEHIND THE ROAD-TRAFFIC ACCIDENT IN DHAKA CITY: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Road traffic accidents are a significant problem worldwide both in terms of loss of human life and economic consequences. In a country with limited resources, like Bangladesh, any such problem becomes even more complex as addressing one issue may mean ignoring another. As a result, while improving the condition of the road is done periodically to reduce accidents, much less attention is paid to traffic control and even lesser to the people using the roads on foot. This study focused on observing the behaviour of pedestrians at five locations in the city of Dhaka. The sites included the intersections with highest and lowest incidences of pedestrian related accidents, and three locations displaying intermediate statistics. People were interviewed to get their views on current road safety situations, motivations for displaying safe behaviour and reasons for willingly taking risks. The study also aimed to find whether age, gender or occupation had any significant impact on road crossing attitudes. Majority of the pedestrians felt that they did not receive satisfactory crossing facilities from the authorities and therefore are not accountable for irresponsible behaviour on their part. This largely unexplored area can be further delved into to get more useful insight for improving the road safety situation in Dhaka City.