As a publication, we have, on numerous occasions, editorialized on the culture of impunity that is pervasive within our traffic eco-system, whereby innocent people lose their lives on a near daily basis.
Merely two days ago, we saw how the practice of illegal drag racing in certain parts of Dhaka resulted in the death of a woman in Gulshan, with many amongst the wealthier and well-connected spheres of our society using their influence to ensure that they never face the consequences.
And while we must end this culture of impunity, we must also implement rule and order to the chaotic nature of the way the traffic system currently functions.
As of now, lanes and traffic lights act as nothing more than decoration for our roads, completely ignored not just by the us, the public, who commute on these streets, but by law enforcement themselves, who are either careless or outright negligent, or unable to ensure that the public abides by the rules of the road.
If we allow the continuation of this chaos on our roads and highways, we are essentially allowing our streets to be overtaken by the whimsies of law breakers, and admitting that control is beyond the capacities of the traffic police.
As it stands now, even the idea of maintaining lanes and ensuring that the public -- by their own volition -- will follow traffic lights, ie an automated traffic system, is a ludicrous one. One that can be brushed aside as being impossible to implement in a country such as ours.
But we must move away from such a defeatist mentality.
If we must have any chance of achieving middle-income status, of representing civilized society, and of reaching the heights of other more developed countries, we must work towards improving our society via drastic and meaning implementations of change.
A good place to start would be our roads.
