JH-IIRU and BIGRS Partners Share 2025 Road Safety Findings from India, Ghana, and Bangladesh
The teams launch the Status Summary Report 2025 for Chattogram in Bangladesh.
As part of the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) collaborated with national and local partners to produce and launch the 2025 Status Summary Reports for major cities in India, Ghana, and Bangladesh.
Grounded in rigorous observational data, the reports track trends in road safety risk factors and provide recommendations to strengthen enforcement, improve infrastructure, and build public awareness. The findings underscore both the urgent challenges and the progress being made toward safer roads in partner cities.
India
On August 14, the Hon’ble Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, together with key dignitaries, unveiled the report showcasing road safety data derived from observations collected by JH-IIRU and CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) between November 2021 and April 2025.
While speeding prevalence remains high, recent months have shown slight progress in reducing this trend. Speeding remains a concern, particularly among heavy vehicles, commercial vehicles, and motorcycles.
The report emphasizes the need for coordinated action across three critical areas: enhanced traffic law enforcement, improvements to road infrastructure, and targeted community awareness initiatives. To support these priorities, JH-IIRU engaged with local policymakers, enforcement agencies, and advocacy groups through a series of stakeholder meetings.
Ghana
From August 25–26, JH-IIRU joined BIGRS partners for this year’s country meeting in Ghana. As part of the engagement, the team launched the 2025 Status Summary Reports for Accra and Kumasi.
In Accra, speeding remains a major concern, with 47% of vehicles recorded speeding as of March 2025. In contrast, Kumasi has shown improvement since September 2023, though an uptick to 31% in February 2025 indicates that further efforts are still required.
In addition to the launches, JH-IIRU supported the release of the Vital Strategies Annual Road Safety Report and facilitated meetings with road safety stakeholders to discuss strategies for sustaining achievements under the BIGRS.
Bangladesh
On September 22 and 24, JH-IIRU, in collaboration with the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB), and the City Corporations, launched the 2025 Status Summary Reports for Dhaka North and Chattogram, presenting key findings from speed observations conducted up to 2024. The reports were unveiled by the chief engineers of the respective cities, with representatives from government, civil society, and media in attendance.
To address road traffic injuries and fatalities, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) issued the Speed Limit Guideline 2024 in May, aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) standards. The guideline sets a maximum speed limit of 80 km/h on expressways and highways and 40 km/h in urban areas. The 2025 reports applied these limits to assess speeding prevalence in both cities, revealing high rates of speeding: 23% in Dhaka North and 44% in Chattogram, with motorcycles recording the highest levels. In addition to the key findings, recommendations to support the implementation of the Speed Limit Guideline 2024 were also presented.
Research and accurate data are crucial, but putting them into action is what drives real change. JH-IIRU continues to work within BIGRS and its global network of partners to ensure that evidence guides policies and programs, making roads safer for communities across low- and middle-income countries.