7,963 children killed on roads in six and a half years, most on motorcycles: Road Safety Foundation

From 2020 to September 2026 — roughly six and a half years — 7,963 children have been killed in road accidents across the country. The alarming picture emerges in a research report published on Wednesday by the Road Safety Foundation; the largest share of the dead lost their lives as motorcycle riders and passengers.

According to the report, 2,958 of the children killed — 37.14 percent — were motorcycle drivers and riders. Another 2,812 children (35.31 percent) died as pedestrians while crossing or walking along roads, and 2,193 children (27.53 percent) died as passengers of other vehicles.

The report, signed by the organisation's executive director Saidur Rahman, was prepared from nine leading national dailies, 17 national and regional online news outlets, electronic media and the foundation's own field-level information.

Among the children killed as pedestrians, the largest number — 1,271 — were struck by three-wheeled vehicles, a category that includes CNG-run auto-rickshaws, battery-run auto-rickshaws, and local vehicles such as nosimon and bhatbhati; these account for 45.19 percent of child pedestrian deaths.

Heavy vehicles such as buses, trucks, covered vans and pickups crushed or struck 1,126 children (40.4 percent). Private cars, microbuses, ambulances and jeeps struck 317 children (11.27 percent), while reckless motorcycles struck 98 children (3.48 percent).

Analysed by road type, the most children died on rural roads — 2,713, or 34.7 percent of all deaths. Regional roads claimed 2,082 children (26.14 percent), highways 1,974 (24.78 percent) and city roads 1,194 (15 percent).

By time of day, the afternoon proved deadliest: 2,634 children (33.7 percent) died then. In the morning 2,168 children (27.22 percent) died, at midday 1,813 (22.76 percent), at night 598, in the evening 546 and at dawn 204.

By age, children aged 13 to 17 died in the largest numbers — 3,547, or 44.54 percent of the total. Children aged 6 to 12 accounted for 2,884 deaths (36.21 percent), and children from birth to age five for 1,532 (19.23 percent).

The report further says 2,513 children — 31.55 percent of the total — were killed while travelling to or from educational institutions. Another 962 children (12.8 percent) died while playing on roads near their homes.

The Road Safety Foundation observes that rural roads usually pass close to homesteads; traffic discipline on them is lacking and law-enforcement monitoring is limited. Children, meanwhile, do not have adequate knowledge of how to use roads safely — so the risk of child casualties on such roads is growing.

The report blames child road deaths on roads and transport systems not being child-friendly, a lack of awareness about safe road use, a shortage of guidance and training in families and schools, unskilled and underage drivers, and a crisis in treating children injured in accidents. Many families' inability to bear treatment costs is also cited as a factor.

To address the crisis, the foundation recommends making roads and transport child-friendly, building regular road-safety awareness in families and schools, and taking strict action against unskilled and underage drivers. It also urges expanding trauma-care capacity at district hospitals, creating a special government fund for treating the injured, and strictly enforcing the Road Transport Act, 2018.

The report warns that, alongside deaths, children are also being maimed by road mismanagement and lack of awareness. Considering every child's potential and future, it calls on the authorities and the public to play an effective role in ensuring safe roads for children.