KATHMANDU: A new report by World Bank (WB) states that road accidents are increasing in Nepal as the country has failed to build safer road infrastructures.

It added that Nepal needs to invest USD 87.9 million in the coming decade to build safer road infrastructures.

In a report ‘Road Safety in South Asia: Opportunities for Shared Regional Initiatives’, the WB states that road crash deaths and injuries have been on a sharp upward trajectory since the early 2000s in Nepal.

“There was a fatality rate of 8.59 per 100,000 populations in the fiscal year 2017-2018,” the report states.

According to the report, 40 percent of those killed in road accidents are below 26 years and over 60 percent of accidents occur owing to human error.

The report emphasizes the need to focus on regional trade corridors where crashes are significant, and roads are unsafe.