By this point, road accidents are all but a fact of life for Bangladeshis.
Given the frequency and severity with which they occur, it would lead anyone to believe that the administration has no plans on rectifying this recurrent issue at all, and even if they do the enforcement of such plans are entirely too feeble.
To cite yet another startling statistic when it comes to road accidents, more than 2,500 people have perished in crashes in the first five months of this year alone. Let that sink in.
The year has barely even started and we’ve already witnessed an inordinate number of lives being lost due to the negligence of everyone involved in the perpetuation of road accidents: From corrupt traffic police who often look the other way to unscrupulous bus owners and their toxic culture of rewarding callousness.
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The Road Transport Act 2018 was drafted almost four years ago, and yet it has seen little to no efforts when it comes to enactment. This gives the message that our administration is far too apathetic when it comes to curbing the number of road accidents we see on a yearly basis. The same year the law was enacted, Bangladesh witnessed a historic student-led movement that proved it is indeed possible for our country to introduce much needed order if only the traffic authorities did their jobs right.
However, we can still turn around. We need to pay attention to the lessons learned from that movement and empower our traffic authorities to root out bad actors on the road, but we also need to root out all the problem elements which exist within the same authorities first.
Eradicating road accidents requires concerted effort from all stakeholders involved, only through that collective will and action can we leave this shameful legacy in the rear-view mirror.