According to a recently released World Health Organisation (WHO) report on road safety as many as 21,316 people were killed in road accidents in Bangladesh in 2012. This by all means is an unacceptably high number and a sad reflection on the dismal standards of road safety in the country

Eyebrow raising death toll from road accidents

According to a recently released World Health Organisation (WHO) report on road safety as many as 21,316 people were killed in road accidents in Bangladesh in 2012. This by all means is an unacceptably high number and a sad reflection on the dismal standards of road safety in the country. Three years have passed since 2012 and we have not seen any visible improvement in the situation.
We have time and again commented on the dilapidated state of our roads, highways, inadequate highway policing, and most importantly reckless driving which all lead to accidents and casualties. However things remain as they are. Sometimes we observe some initiatives towards improving the scenario from the concerned authorities but these efforts almost invariably are of an ad hoc and short term nature. And next to nothing has been done by successive government to rein in the rabid elements of transport owners’ and workers’ associations and unions. Apparently these unionists believe that they are above the law and owners of the roads. Time and again the authorities have caved in to their most unreasonable of demands and it is the common people who end up being the victims. It would be no exaggeration to say that these unionists have held the rest of the population as hostages.
Incredible as it may sound, in Bangladesh a minister or MP can be jailed for their crimes but all hell breaks lose if a driver or transport worker is justifiably punished. In any case punishment for reckless driving is rarely meted out. In a democratic republic such a situation cannot continue. All the stakeholders must meet together and ensure that the interest of the common people gets precedence over everything.      
The infrastructure must improve. Experts have been talking about dangerous bends and curves on the various highways which have caused many accidents. The concerned department should take the necessary steps to rectify the situation. Only the competent drivers should get licenses. Unfortunately getting a driving license in Bangladesh has become too easy–basically a matter of greasing certain palms. The practice of helpers in charge of the steering wheels must stop. It is an open secret that many truck, lorry and bus drivers drive in an intoxicated state. Here too the highway police personnel should take effective actions.
One reason of the high number of accident deaths is the inadequate number of medical facilities or trauma centres near the highways. If the accident victims can be taken faster to medical facilities the number of deaths will certainly come down. Death or permanent injury in a road accident not only is a crushing blow to the family concerned but accident deaths have a severely negative impact on the economy as a whole. Prompt actions are essential to change the situation for the better. 

According to a recently released World Health Organisation (WHO) report on road safety as many as 21,316 people were killed in road accidents in Bangladesh in 2012. This by all means is an unacceptably high number and a sad reflection on the dismal standards of road safety in the country

Eyebrow raising death toll from road accidents

According to a recently released World Health Organisation (WHO) report on road safety as many as 21,316 people were killed in road accidents in Bangladesh in 2012. This by all means is an unacceptably high number and a sad reflection on the dismal standards of road safety in the country. Three years have passed since 2012 and we have not seen any visible improvement in the situation. We have time and again commented on the dilapidated state of our roads, highways, inadequate highway policing, and most importantly reckless driving which all lead to accidents and casualties. However things remain as they are. Sometimes we observe some initiatives towards improving the scenario from the concerned authorities but these efforts almost invariably are of an ad hoc and short term nature. And next to nothing has been done by successive government to rein in the rabid elements of transport owners and workers associations and unions. Apparently these unionists believe that they are above the law and owners of the roads. Time and again the authorities have caved in to their most unreasonable of demands and it is the common people who end up being the victims. It would be no exaggeration to say that these unionists have held the rest of the population as hostages. Incredible as it may sound, in Bangladesh a minister or MP can be jailed for their crimes but all hell breaks lose if a driver or transport worker is justifiably punished. In any case punishment for reckless driving is rarely meted out. In a democratic republic such a situation cannot continue. All the stakeholders must meet together and ensure that the interest of the common people gets precedence over everything. The infrastructure must improve. Experts have been talking about dangerous bends and curves on the various highways which have caused many accidents. The concerned department should take the necessary steps to rectify the situation. Only the competent drivers should get licenses. Unfortunately getting a driving license in Bangladesh has become too easybasically a matter of greasing certain palms. The practice of helpers in charge of the steering wheels must stop. It is an open secret that many truck, lorry and bus drivers drive in an intoxicated state. Here too the highway police personnel should take effective actions. One reason of the high number of accident deaths is the inadequate number of medical facilities or trauma centres near the highways. If the accident victims can be taken faster to medical facilities the number of deaths will certainly come down. Death or permanent injury in a road accident not only is a crushing blow to the family concerned but accident deaths have a severely negative impact on the economy as a whole. Prompt actions are essential to change the situation for the better.