To make roads and highways safe, projects worth thousands of crores of Taka are being undertaken, and hundreds of recommendations made, but the procession of deaths on the roads are getting longer by the day.
Whenever any accident occurs, fault of only the vehicles or the road comes forward. But the authorities concerned remain untouched.
The Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Roads and Highways Department, Highway Police including other government agencies and private institutions are unable to come up with a proper solution.
According to the government, accidents have increased by 44 percent and fatalities by 30 percent this year compared to those in the first three months of the previous year.
According to the data of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), the regulatory body of the road transport sector, more than 5000 people died in road accidents in the country in 2023. About 14 people have died on the road every day.
However, according to the Bangladesh Health Injury Survey, an average of 64 people die in road accidents every day in the country.
Most of these accidents are taking place due to lack of rules and regulations, reckless attitude of the drivers, unwanted speed, negligence and unawareness.
Again, the lack of consciousness of the passengers is not less responsible here.
On Wednesday last, 14 people were killed when a truck lost control and crushed several cars at the toll plaza of Gabkhan Setu on the Khulna-Jhalakathi highway. After the accident, it was learned that the driver's license was for light vehicles.
Even after 15 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a pickup in Faridpur last Tuesday, various irregularities came to the fore. Passengers were being transported in a pickup in defiance of government restriction. All passengers and drivers of the pickup were killed. The route permit of the bus was not proper also.
Road Transport and Highways Department Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Noori said, “BRTA and Highway Police are working as best they can. The highway police are dealing with cases every day against reckless speeding, paperless vehicles, carrying excess goods, transporting passengers in goods vehicles. The government is doing everything to prevent death and accidents on the roads. Accidents do not stop due to ignorance of passengers also.”
In a latest move Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) ordered the continuation of the operation of mobile courts every day across the country to prevent road accidents and strengthen road discipline.
Until further orders, the Assistant Directors (Eng.) of the Circle Office will liaise with the District Administration and undertake the necessary activities in running the Mobile Courts on a daily basis. The agency has asked the Divisional Director (Eng.) and Deputy Directors (Eng.) of BRTA to monitor the activities.
Professor Hadiuzzaman, the former director of the Accident Research Institute at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said that those who are supposed to prevent irregularities, do not perform their duties properly, so errors are not detected before the accident. There are also gaps in the investigation. The inquiry committee which is constituted has representatives from BRTA, Police, Highway Police, Roads and Highways Department. As a result, they do not investigate their shortcomings properly.”