The tragic demise of two college students in a road accident on Airport Road in the capital in 2018 triggered nationwide outrage against the gross violations of traffic rules by drivers. The public reaction led the traffic police to undertake mass awareness campaigns on the need to observe traffic regulations.
These programs definitely helped people better understand the importance of following traffic rules. Statistics convey a different picture, however.
According to data available from road safety campaigners, Bangladesh has a lot to do before road crashes, including fatalities, can be reduced.
Throughout 2019, both the number of accidents and casualties were 15% higher than in the previous year.
A total of 5,227 people, including 1,190 transport workers, lost their lives in 4,702 road accidents in 2019, according to a report released by Nirapad Sarak Chai (Nischa) on Tuesday. Ilias Kanchan, noted film actor and founder of the advocacy group, made the report public at a press conference at the National Press Club.
The report notes that over 4,356 people were killed on the spot, while 871 others died while being treated or much later from their injuries. Among the dead, 1,190 were drivers and transport conductors.
The report, a compilation of news items carried in 11 national dailies and by relevant bodies and associations, shows the number of injured people fell to 6,953 - a 6% drop from the 7,425 recorded in 2018.
Most accidents – 309 – occurred in Dhaka, while 488 people were killed in Mymensingh district, mostly on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.
Nischa recommended implementing the Road Safety Act, launching awareness campaigns and inclusion of road safety aspects in textbooks to reduce incidents of road accidents and human fatalities.
Road safety law crippled
The Road Transport Act-2018 was adopted on August 6, 2018, days after nationwide protests erupted over the death of two students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College when a bus ploughed through a crowd waiting for transport on Airport Road near Radisson Hotel in the capital on July 28, 2018.
The law came into effect on November 1, 2019, nearly a year after the governing Awami League was re-elected to power. But moves to implement the law resulted in a backlash from the transport sector. Transport owners and workers called strikes, barricaded roads, and took people hostage by depriving them of the means to commute.
The anti-RTA protesters, mainly comprising transport workers and owners, secured an extension till June 30, 2020 to register their vehicles and obtain their licenses, in effect forcing the law into a state of suspension.
Unfit vehicles on our roads
In October last year, the High Court directed the authorities concerned to prevent vehicles without valid fitness documents from re-fuelling at filling stations.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) report, placed before the High Court in July 2018, noted that 4.79 lakh vehicles without valid fitness certificates were on the roads.
Freewheeling three-wheelers
Defying a 2015 ban and repeated High Court directives, three-wheelers, non-motorized and other illegal modes of transport continue operating on the country's highways, often causing accidents.
Nischa noted that local administration and highway police have continued to turn a blind eye to these unauthorized vehicles.
Unlicensed motorcyclists
Quoting the state-run BRTA, Ilias Kanchan said half of the motorcyclists do not have licenses.
Some 2,786,954 motorcycles are registered, but only 1,306,703 motorcycle drivers have licenses, he said.
In 2019, motorcyclists and their passengers accounted for 19% of road fatalities, with total deaths at 648, which had been 21% a year earlier.
Besides, underage boys riding motorcycles have been aggravating the situation. Ilias Kanchan urged motorcycle companies and marketing dealers not to sell bikes to the under-aged, even if their parents accompanied them.
Failure to meet SDG goal
At the First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in 2009, a unanimous call was made on tackling such a leading cause of death and disability, resulting in the UN General Assembly declaring 2011-2020 as a Decade of Action for Road Safety.
At the second Global High Level Conference on Road Safety in 2015, delegates agreed to halve road traffic deaths by the end of the decade – a key milestone within the new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.6.
The next Global High Level Conference, to be held in Sweden in February this year, will review past actions.
But most countries, including Bangladesh, may fail to reach the milestone. A primary decision has already been made by the international community to extend the timeframe to 2030, keeping in line with the SDG target of 3.6, said Ilias Kanchan.
