More than 7,000 students have been killed in road crashes across Bangladesh over the past seven and a half years, an analysis by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) has found.
More than half were college and university students, with motorcycle crashes emerging as the leading cause.
The RSF disclosed the findings in a statement on Tuesday, citing its review of road crashes from 2019 through June 2026.
The review recorded 7,364 student deaths, representing 15.11 percent of the 48,713 people killed in road accidents during the same period.
Among the victims, 3,328 were school and madrasa students aged 5 to 17, while 4,036 were college and university students aged 18 to 25.
Motorcycle riders and passengers accounted for 3,841 deaths, or 52.15 percent of the total.
Another 1,923 students were killed as pedestrians, 927 as passengers in vehicles, 519 while riding bicycles or rickshaws, and 154 after scarves or clothing became entangled in auto-rickshaw wheels.
Regionally, 2,149 deaths occurred on regional roads, 1,947 on rural roads, 1,786 on urban roads and 1,482 on highways.
Children aged 5 to 12 were most often killed by autorickshaws, motorcycles and goods vehicles while travelling to school or playing near their homes, mainly on rural roads.
Students aged 13 to 25 were more likely to die as motorcycle riders or passengers on regional roads and highways.
The foundation attributed the deaths to poor road conditions, unsafe vehicles, reckless motorcycle riding, weak enforcement of traffic laws and a lack of discipline in the transport sector.
It called for stronger road safety education, safer school zones, safer vehicles and stricter enforcement to prevent underage motorcycle riding.