A rights body has demanded the movement of motorcycles on highways be monitored and the plying of three-wheelers be stopped to ensure safe travels ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Home-goers may have to sit through hours of traffic jams if the movement of these vehicles are not kept in check, rights body Jatri Kalyan Samiti said in a statement on Sunday.
A million motorcycles and 2 million easybikes have been added to the country’s vehicle fleet in the last two years, says the statement by its Secretary General Md Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury.
More than 3.5 million motorbikes and 4 million easybikes ply the roads of Bangladesh and “exacerbate the traffic jam problem by 50%”, according to him.
He estimated that some 1.2 million people may go home to different districts riding motorcycles. Another 4 million may make the trips on bikes through inter-district ride-sharing, he added.
Accidents often occur when the motorcycle riders, along with their wives and children, recklessly try to overtake buses and cars on the highways, Mozammel remarked.
According to his organization, 318 accidents took place during trips last Eid, leaving 323 dead and 622 injured. As many as 144 of those accidents involved motorcycles which killed 139 and injured 199.
The number of accidents can be reduced by 50% if the movement of bikes is monitored, Mozammel stated.
The rights organization predicted that more than 1.5 million three-wheelers may ply the highways ahead of this Eid.
These small vehicles bring down the speed of long-route buses, cause traffic jams at important junctions and bus stops, and increase the risk of road accidents, it said.
