By this point, we must come to grips with the fact that fatal road accidents are all but a part of our national identity. Just as it is accepted wisdom that our average lifespan has been shortened drastically due to environmental factors, so too have we seemingly accepted that road accidents are simply yet another factor claiming our lives.
Which is why when we read news that at least four people were killed in two separate road accidents in one day -- as is what occurred in Rangpur and Tangail on Tuesday -- few of us would even flinch at the notion. That is indeed the level of desensitization that has been instilled in the minds of Bangladeshis when it comes to this absolutely pressing issue.
These incidents are no longer events, but repeated patterns in behaviour, which not only highlight large vehicles such as buses and trucks as the primary culprits in most cases, but the persistently hopeless environment of recklessness and subsequent impunity that is present on the roads, streets, alleys, and highways of Bangladesh.
While reckless drivers are absolutely the smoking gun that leads to such tragedies, we must recognize that the ones holding that gun are the transport company owners who foment an environment that encourages bus and truck drivers to compete with each other, endangering the lives of the public in the process.
The year 2018 will be historic in the annals of our country, in that it paved the way to a momentous student-led movement that sought safer roads and highways for all. While it may have resulted in the Road Transport Act, 2018 being legislated, clearly in effect the law has had little to no impact.
It is shameful that it has been less than two weeks into the new year that we have started witnessing road accidents which have claimed multiple lives already. Laws can be drafted without thought, but none of it will mean anything unless they are acted upon.
