We don’t know where the road accident death march ends. Road accidents are happening one after another due to lack of traffic discipline. In this country of all possibilities, vehicles like Nasimon, Karimon and auto-rickshaws also run on the highways.
One of the factors responsible for road accidents is the tendency to disobey the law. There is this trend among vehicle drivers and pedestrians.
In order to reduce the risk of road accidents, it is necessary to create obstacles in the tendency to move as desired. Free-style movement of motorcycles needs to be curbed. First of all, we need to find out the reason for the road accidents one after the other and get to the root cause. We believe that the number of accidents can be reduced by 80 percent if discipline is established on the road. That is why it is necessary to ban the movement of vehicular traffic. It should also be ensured that no one is allowed to operate a mechanical vehicle without proper training. It is also important to put an end to the complaints about the relationship of the traffic police with the vehicle owners and workers.
It is by no means desirable that a large number of lives should be lost in road accidents every day. Drivers, passengers, pedestrians and all those involved in traffic control should be aware if the procession of casualties is not to be prolonged. It is also important to build public awareness. Due to the lack of this, the number of deaths on the road is increasing. Either way, this suffering must end.
Despite taking various measures, road accidents are happening every day across the country. According to the monthly accident report published by Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association, 565 people died in 552 road accidents across the country last March. At least 1,228 people were injured in these accidents.
Of the number of people who die in road accidents throughout the year, about 7 and a half percent of them die only during Eid.
According to the data of Yatri Kalyan Samiti, 1 thousand 67 people died in 994 road accidents during the three Eid-ul-Fitr from 2021 to 2023. At this time, 770 people lost their lives on the roads in 786 accidents during Eid-ul-Azha. Last Tuesday, 22 people died in road accidents in seven districts including Faridpur. On the day of Eid, 21 people died across the country.
A private car and three autorickshaws were crushed under the pressure of a cement-laden truck in Jhalkathi last Wednesday. 14 people were killed in this incident. At least 12 people were injured. Besides, four more people died in road accidents in three districts of the country.
There is no way to continue to call road accident deaths just accidents. There are many accidents on the roads and highways of the country, which can be called murders instead of accidents. Many accidents are caused by the driver. Many drivers drive day and night. Many accidents are also caused by excessive fatigue and falling asleep while driving.
Car keys are handed over to unlicensed incompetent drivers, even minor drivers. According to a statistic, about 40 percent of drivers in the country do not have a valid driving license. Another major limitation of drivers in our country is lack of required educational qualifications. Drug addiction of drivers is also a major cause of road accidents. The Prime Minister directed the drivers to undergo dope test to stop driving under the influence of drugs. Are those instructions being followed? At that time, the Dhaka Road Transport Owners-Workers Union said that whether the drivers are addicted to drugs, they will be tested on the road. If any driver is caught in the test, he will be sent directly to jail. How far is the driver’s dope test?
Various studies have shown that 90 percent of road accidents are due to over speeding of vehicles and careless attitude of drivers. Undesigned speed breakers or speed breakers on highways are also largely responsible for accidents. Apart from this, accidents also occur due to faulty vehicles, stalls sitting on the side of the road, lack of adequate rest for the drivers. The experts believe that if the maximum speed of traffic on the highway is fixed and the drivers are forced to adhere to that speed by using speed measuring devices, the accidents will be reduced a lot. Law enforcement, trained skilled drivers and good roadworthy vehicles are essential to prevent road accidents. But at the same time people should be aware.
According to the report prepared on the basis of public-private and own surveys, Bangladesh ranks third among South Asian countries in terms of road accident deaths after India and Pakistan. According to statistics, an average of 4,000 people die in road accidents in Bangladesh every year. In order to build a modern, safe, environmentally friendly and technology-based road transport and control system, most of the decisions and recommendations of Bangladesh as a ratifier to reduce the number of people killed and injured in road accidents to half by the year 2020 have not been implemented. It has been seen that when there is a major accident, when a particular person is killed in an accident or when there is a movement on the road due to a road accident, the administration is shaken for some time. Some discussions, some decisions are also taken. But it does not play an effective role in preventing road accidents.
Bangladesh has already passed the category of developing country and is moving forward with the goal of becoming a developed country by 2041. Improved transport and communication system is essential for the development of socio-economic conditions of a country. A prerequisite for socio-economic progress is improved transport and communication systems. In other words, economic development and improved transportation and communication systems are inextricably linked. Apart from that, advanced transportation system carries the identity of civilization, so planning and work on transportation system suitable for developed countries should be started now.
Another major cause of road accidents is unfit vehicles. Road safety experts believe that accidents are increasing due to defective vehicles, reckless speed, reckless mentality of drivers, inefficiency and physical and mental illness, salary and working hours are not fixed. We want all measures to be taken to control road accidents. Dope test of drivers should be given new driving license if necessary.
[লেখক : সাবেক চেয়ারম্যান, রাজউক]
