Trucks, covered vans and buses, overloaded with goods and passengers, are still causing road accidents across the country. But to prevent accidents on roads and highways, axle load guidelines, framed in 2012, have not been implemented yet.
Recently, 14 people were killed when a truck lost control and rammed several vehicles at toll plaza of Gabkhan Bridge on Khulna-Jhalakathi highway. After the accident, it was found that the truck was overloaded with cement.
As per the 2012 axle load guidelines, the truck was capable of carrying 13 tonnes of goods. But flouting the rules, 20 tonnes of cement were loaded onto the truck.
According to Section 43 of Road Transport Act, carrying excess goods is a punishable offence. On the other hand, roads and highways, built at the cost of thousands of crores of taka, are not sustaining due to carrying excess goods by vehicles.
Bangladesh Passengers’ Welfare Association Secretary General Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury told Bangladesh Post, “The weight capacity of a vehicle is determined by the manufacturer. As per the bluebook, a six-wheeled vehicle with four axles will have to carry 15 to 16 tonnes of goods. Exceeding this limit can cause a fatal accident.”
Officials of the Roads and Highways Department informed media that overloading is not only damaging the roads but also causing serious accidents. Currently, axle load-related policies are in effect. Weight scales have been installed on the roads in various places to control overloading. Weight control centres will be set up in important places on the highways in phases.
Road Transport and Bridges Secretary A B M Amin Ullah Nuri told Bangladesh Post, “By June this year, we will be able to set up at least 12 out of 28 axle load centres across the country. As of now, a good number of these centres have already been successfully established.”
When asked about the damaged axle load centres, he said, “As spare parts of these load centres need to be imported from abroad, the process is underway to fix them.”
To stop untoward incidents on roads and bridges caused by overloaded vehicles, precise load restrictions are imposed on vehicles according to their wheel count. The set limits were 13 to 15 tonnes for two axles, 22 to 25 tonnes for three axles, 25 to 33 tonnes for four axles, and 35 to 38 tonnes for five axles, in accordance with international standards.
The Road Transport and Bridges Ministry introduced a maximum permissible axle load limit for vehicles in May 2005 through a gazette notification.
Despite a Tk 5,000 crore project funded by the World Bank to prevent road accidents, only 5 out of 17 planned axle load control centres are operational. Damage to existing centres further hinders efforts to trace overloaded vehicles, causing road accidents.
