In January 2026, Bangladesh witnessed 552 road accidents resulting in 546 deaths and 1,204 injuries, according to a press release issued on February 22 by the Passenger Welfare Association. The report, based on media monitoring, revealed that motorcycle-related incidents were the deadliest, causing 223 deaths and 132 injuries. Motorcycles accounted for about 38 percent of total accidents and 41 percent of total fatalities.

The divisional breakdown showed Dhaka division had the highest number of accidents with 132 incidents, 133 deaths, and 328 injuries, while Sylhet recorded the lowest with 29 accidents, 28 deaths, and 63 injuries. Among 829 vehicles involved, 28.46 percent were motorcycles, followed by trucks, pickups, covered vans, and lorries at 23.64 percent, and buses at 14.35 percent. Most accidents occurred on national highways (42.57 percent), followed by regional highways (27.89 percent) and feeder roads (24.09 percent).

The association attributed the accidents to weak transport policies, poor supervision, unfit vehicles, unskilled drivers, and reckless driving. It proposed 14 measures, including driver training, digital vehicle fitness certification, CCTV-based traffic enforcement, and removal of unfit vehicles.