The grim news of 24 people being killed in road accidents across six districts in Bangladesh once again highlights the urgent need to introduce measures to improve road safety.
The fact that so many separate fatal accidents took place in a single day shows that the problem lies not with any individual driver, but with our woefully inadequate transportation policy, which has allowed our roads and highways to become deathtraps, and for bad drivers to get away with impunity.
This cannot go on. Bangladesh has one of the highest road accident rates in the world. It is estimated that there are 85.6 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles on our roads each year. Road accidents could soon become the leading cause of death in Bangladesh if we fail to do something about it soon.
We must put in place a system to collect comprehensive data on road accidents, as many accidents never even get reported. The data must be used by authorities to implement the necessary measures to reduce the same type of accident from happening again in the future.
The World Health Organisation estimates that about 21,000 people die every year year of road accidents in Bangladesh. We cannot afford to keep turning a blind eye to this problem. The government needs to probe further into why collisions between three-wheelers and large trucks continue to happen after three-wheelers have been banned from highways. Furthermore, violators of road laws should be brought to book without delay.
There have been enough half-hearted road measures that are not seen all the way through. Proper implementation must be ensured so not that no more lives are lost in senseless accidents on our roads.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
