Bangladesh leaves many countries trailing behind when it comes to fatal road accidents. No one can give precise statistics, but the country is surely at the top when it comes to lives lost in road accidents.
In television newsrooms the ticker is updated periodically, and among the numerous political, economic, business, and crime-related news, they are also updated with frequent news of fatal road accidents every day. In almost every news bulletin, news of accidents occupies a significant portion of airtime. It is high time that the government and the public took resolute actions for road safety.
A study conducted by the Accident Research Centre (ARC) of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) notes that there has been an alarming rise in the number of road accidents, highway accidents chiefly, in Bangladesh over the past few years.
According to the study, road accidents claim an average of 12,000 lives every year and lead to about 35,000 injuries. According to statistics from the World Bank, the annual fatality rate from road accidents is found to be 85.6 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles in Bangladesh.
A high growth in urbanisation and the number of cars can be identified as one of the factors leading to the large number of road accidents. But the real reason is issuing driving licenses to those who are unfit to drive. For a nation in which the number of vehicles per capita is quite low, the number of deaths is, on the contrary, huge, distressing, and worrisome.
If we observe all the news reports and television talk show deliberations, they all speak of the same thing – drunk driving, speeding, enforcement of rules, the importance of seat belts, the safety of pedestrians and motor cyclists who constitute the majority of those who perish in road accidents, improving infrastructure, and so on. But in the end, nothing gets implemented, resulting in lives being lost on the roads.
Lawlessness is very widespread in Bangladesh’s transport sector. There are rules, but no one seems to care. The situation seems to be getting worse as our economy grows, along with our growing purchasing power and number of motor vehicles on the roads.
Roads in Bangladesh are always packed with vehicles. Some are too fast, while some are too slow. The roadway infrastructure in some areas of the country is completely outdated. And the drivers, especially bus and truck drivers, act like Neanderthals out on the roads. Many of our country’s sectors are gradually shedding any semblance of accountability, but the transport sector never really had any.
If the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) really is bent on improving this sector, and wants to reduce the number of accidents, its only option is to work with a sincere mission. It can reissue all driving licenses around the country in phases. Even those who hold valid licenses, not only those with forged ones, should be issued new licenses.
First of all, the BRTC, and other authorities concerned, can think of changing the license issuance system; everyone is aware of the purchasable driving licenses in our country. There are thousands of drivers who have very little knowledge of traffic rules. The driving tests conducted by the transport authorities are a farce. Anyone can manage a driving license through bribery. This happens because the system is not there to ensure honesty and transparency. Bus and truck drivers are highly organised and backed by powerful quarters. They can kill thousands on the streets without as much as a slap on the wrist.
The government promotes Information Technology (IT) all the time. It can employ the use of IT in the transport sector. With help from experts, it can come up with a network of all the licenses issued connected to a central database. Apart from the obvious tragedy, the economic costs of such accidents are also a significant factor. Estimates in Bangladesh show a significant waste in the total national GDP from road accidents, which could’ve been salvaged, had the number of accidents been lower.
Another way to reduce the number of accidents would be to randomly check the skills of drivers. Police, along with a magistrate, can do random checks on drivers. They can be asked questions regarding their driving skills and knowledge of traffic rules. But the real factor would be checking the individuals who issue licenses. If a driver is found to be unknowledgeable of the rules, or does not possess sufficient skills in driving, the next step would be to check the individual who issued a license to that driver. If things are done with a clear mission, a proper system can manifest.
This will surely be a grand undertaking, but the nation needs this in order to save lives. A nation cannot afford to allow its people to keep dying out on the streets. Violators must be dealt with judiciously. It is imperative to go all-out in preventing road accidents.
