It is deeply concerning that, despite assurances of various safety measures being taken by our law enforcement, the number of road accidents and ensuing fatalities during this past Eid-ul-Azha saw a noticeable uptick in comparison to that of last year.
According to data gathered by Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, in the 15 days before and after Eid-ul-Azha this year, around 309 road accidents occurred across the country's many roads and highways, resulting in 458 fatalities and 1,840 injuries.
If assurances of safety and security are unmet despite the measures taken, what is even the point?
Every year the nation sees record levels of traffic along its roads and highways in the run up to the two major Muslim holidays, and every year the same promises of safety measures are made and promptly broken by the authorities. The issues are clearly multi-faceted, with our law enforcement citing limited capacity as one of its bottlenecks alongside the lack of implementation when it comes to speed limits.
Bangladeshis have become dangerously accustomed to death and destruction from road accidents, with the phenomenon ostensibly being accepted as a part of life as reports of such incidents make the news almost every day. Just yesterday morning, in fact, several people were injured in a road accident which saw a bus overturn along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway -- while the bus in question lost control due to one of its tires getting, at least one of the passengers lost their life in the incident.
The majority of road accidents in the capital city are the result of speeding on the part of bus drivers, individuals who are incentivized by their employers to be as reckless as possible on the road for their own greed.
It is high time that the administration took control of the situation and made meaningful progress towards ending the cycle of death and destruction from road accidents.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
