Ten major highways in Bangladesh are at high risk of crashes after a report identified 219 “black spots” on the road.

The report by the Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology highlighted that 2,515 accidents occurred on the 219 spots, with 2,349 people killed between 1998 and 2007.

The ARI report revealed that the highways are accident-prone due to faulty engineering and design, roadside trees and obstructive billboards, and also because authorities are not adhering to safety rules during road construction.

Most of these spots would require only BDT10,000-12,000 ($144-$172.8) to fix engineering faults, according to DailyStar.

The report found that the government’s main department responsible for construction and maintenance of highways had no separate list of their own on the black spots, while there were no speed breakers, channelisation or road marks at some intersections.

The wing to monitor road safety, the Road Design and Safety Circle, had budgeting constraints, but has now been allocated funds to prepare a safety audit manual within six months and then start a survey to detect the spots.