It is mandatory to have a driver’s license to drive the vehicle; Vehicle fitness and route permit – these three issues have been highlighted in the Road Transport Act 2018. Experts say that road accidents have increased in recent times due to non-compliance. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) which is responsible for seeing these things has failed a lot. And the transporters are taking this opportunity. They are conducting transport as desired on the road. Driving a heavy vehicle with a light vehicle license. In some cases, the evidence of not having a driver’s license is found after the accident.
Experts say these are the three most important criteria for safe roads. But it is not confirmed. There is no one to see. BRTA controls about 6 million vehicles across the country with only 10 executive magistrates. In most cases, the institution has to depend on the local administration.
Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET) engaged in basic research on road accidents. The organization says that 20-30 percent of road accidents occur in the country due to unfit vehicles. An estimated 50 percent of road accidents are due to lack of proper license. But the complexity of route permit in long distance buses is less. This problem is the most in the capital.
According to BRTA rules, there are four types of heavy vehicles including buses, trucks, covered vans. Heavy driving license is mandatory to drive these vehicles. Basically, this license is given to skilled drivers. The number of heavy vehicles in the whole country is now 2.5 lakh. According to the latest estimates, 1 lakh such licenses have been distributed. That means almost 50 percent of drivers are driving heavy vehicles without proper license.
Although the route permit for passenger vehicles is fixed, cargo or heavy vehicles can move freely across the country. As a result, heavy vehicles are largely responsible for road accidents. According to ARI, about 50% of heavy vehicle drivers are driving at risk every day. As per the last 15 years, 44 percent of road accidents are directly and indirectly related to heavy vehicles. 59 percent of pedestrian deaths in road accidents are collisions with heavy vehicles.
If you want to know, the former director of ARI and communication expert Professor Dr. Hadiuzzaman told Kalbela, drivers of unfit vehicles will always be unfit – this is normal. Vehicles that do not have a route permit; Without fitness, that vehicle will not be driven by a professional driver. An amateur driver is reckless. Due to which accidents are increasing. In all the recent accidents, critical faults including lack of route permit, driver’s license and vehicle fitness were found. Basically these defects remain due to lack of maintenance. Death on the way is increasing.
According to BRTA estimates, currently 1.6 million vehicles do not have fitness centers. Some of these vehicles have not collected updated fitness certificates. Some vehicles are not getting fitness certificate for a long time. Apart from this, more than 1.5 lakh drivers are in crisis as compared to vehicles.
Experts say none of these vehicles are sitting. Everything is going on. The level of accidents is increasing. In this regard, BRTA Chairman Noor Mohammad Majumder told Kalbela, ‘We have to work with various limitations. There is very little manpower to ensure that the vehicles comply with the rules or regulations. We work with the cooperation of local administration. Taking advantage of the manpower crisis, unfit vehicles are plying without license or route permit. For this, we are conducting a simultaneous operation across the country.’
A reckless bus of Raida Paribahan broke the wall of the third terminal of Shahjalal International Airport on a holiday on last Friday, April 20. An engineer died in it. After inquiry, it was found that the bus of Raida Paribahan is not fit. Fitness expires on January 29, 2023. No more fitness after that. Apart from this, the tax, token and route permit expired in November 2022. Raida Paribahan buses ply from Postgola to Uttara Khalpar.
Earlier on April 14, a bus of Unique Paribahan of Kanaipur in Faridpur ran over a pickup with passengers. 14 people in the pickup died. It was later found that the bus had no fitness certificate and no tax token. Even the road where the accident took place was not authorized for traffic. Three days after this, on April 17, 14 passengers of an autorickshaw and a private car were tragically killed when a truck ran over them in Gabkhane, Jhalkathi. It was later learned that the truck driver who was hit did not have a license to drive heavy vehicles.
Road safety department of BRTA takes care of all matters including vehicle fitness. Director (Road Safety) Sheikh Mohammad Mahbub-e-Rabbani is in charge of this department. He told Kalbela on the question of remedying road accidents, ‘Everyone should come forward for this. Illegal vehicles are running freely across the country. BRTA is not the only one responsible for these cares. There are law enforcement agencies. Everyone must work together. Working as a single institution will not solve the crisis.’
When asked, Secretary General of Passenger Welfare Association Mozammel Haque Chowdhury told Kalbela, ‘About three percent of accidents are caused by heavy vehicles. Out of this, 14 percent of road accidents were caused by trucks-pickups, covered vans and lorries and the remaining 14 percent were caused by buses.
Ashish Kumar de Kalbela, general secretary of the National Committee for the Protection of Maritime, Road and Railways, said, ‘There have been accidents one after the other due to unfit vehicles, drivers not having proper license and route permit. Those who were responsible for these cares are not being held accountable or brought under the law. If it was possible to do this work, the accident would have been reduced a lot.’
