At least 168 people were killed in 159 motorcycle accidents, 37.23 per cent of total incidents, across the country between January 1 and January 31 of this year, according to Road Safety Foundation (RSF).
The RSF said 484 people were killed and 673 injured in 427 road accidents throughout the country in January this year. At least 445 lives were lost in 340 road accidents in January last year, reports UNB.
The road safety campaign came up with the findings on Saturday citing reports of seven daily newspapers, five online portals and television channels.
According to the findings, 53 drivers and helpers were killed during the same period of this year – 10.95 per cent of total fatalities.
Meanwhile, seven people died, four got injured, and six remained missing in four waterway accidents. As many as 14 people were killed, and six injured in 11 railway accidents during the same period.
At least 153 accidents, 35.83 per cent, occurred on highways, 107 accidents, 25.05 per cent – took place on regional roads, and 11 incidents, 2.57 per cent, on other roads.
The highest number of accidents took place in Dhaka division and the lowest in Sylhet division.
Unfit vehicles, reckless driving, and disregard for traffic rules were among the reasons behind the accidents.
The World Bank report, titled Delivering Road Safety in Bangladesh, said, "The country needs to invest an estimated extra $7.8 billion over the next decade to halve its road crash fatalities."
"The high death rate on Bangladesh's roads is caused by a chronic lack of investment in systemic, targeted, and sustained road safety programmes," it said.
The annual road crash deaths per capita in Bangladesh are twice the average rate for high-income countries and five times that of the best-performing countries in the world, it added.
Children and the working-age population were most affected by road crash injuries in Bangladesh, the World Bank report said.