High time to take steps to prevent road accidents

Road accidents in Bangladesh claim on average 12,000 lives annually and lead to about 35,000 injuries. The annual fatality rate from road accidents in Bangladesh is 85.6 per 10,000 vehicles which contrasts poorly even with 47.7 in Myanmar and 62.7 in Nepal. The fatality rate in Bangladesh from road accidents specially contrasts with the developed countries where the rate is below 3 per 10,000 vehicles. The average annual national cost estimates for road accidents in Bangladesh is Taka 70 billion. Thus, it needs no explanation why it is imperative to go all out to prevent the accidents from happening.
The first area of prevention must be improvement of the enforcement of traffic laws. The traffic police department must be made truly motivated to apply the rules with an eye for catching the offenders such as vehicles that overload, engage in speeding or the operators who do not maintain their vehicles.
The training of drivers ought to be under rigorous inspection. Drivers are known to get their licenses too easily in Bangladesh through bribery. Thus, even drivers with legitimate licenses in many cases are otherwise not dependable as they have got their licenses without going through proper tests to establish their fitness. According to one assessment, the number of licensed drivers is some 0.9 million. But some 0.4 million are driving without proper licenses or no licenses at all. This alone should put into sharp focus one of the main causes of road accidents from untrained or poorly trained drivers operating freely on the roads.
This practice must be put to an end and also the corruption in certifying vehicles as fit for movement in exchange of bribes. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles long past their operating life are seen on the roads. It is incredible but a fact that many of them do not even approach the authorities for renewing their fitness certificates but mange as and when necessary by bribing the traffic policemen on the roads. Sometimes, these vehicles get fitness certificates and also renew them through similar bribery at the offices of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). It should be obvious why the sternest of steps need to be taken to take these unfit vehicles off the roads for eliminating their accident making potentials.
Capital punishment for reckless driving was withdrawn after pressure from organized unions of transport sector workers. Every effort should be made to reintroduce such penalty for its deterrent value.

The writer is a contributor to The Independent

High time to take steps to prevent road accidents

Road accidents in Bangladesh claim on average 12,000 lives annually and lead to about 35,000 injuries. The annual fatality rate from road accidents in Bangladesh is 85.6 per 10,000 vehicles which contrasts poorly even with 47.7 in Myanmar and 62.7 in Nepal. The fatality rate in Bangladesh from road accidents specially contrasts with the developed countries where the rate is below 3 per 10,000 vehicles. The average annual national cost estimates for road accidents in Bangladesh is Taka 70 billion. Thus, it needs no explanation why it is imperative to go all out to prevent the accidents from happening. The first area of prevention must be improvement of the enforcement of traffic laws. The traffic police department must be made truly motivated to apply the rules with an eye for catching the offenders such as vehicles that overload, engage in speeding or the operators who do not maintain their vehicles. The training of drivers ought to be under rigorous inspection. Drivers are known to get their licenses too easily in Bangladesh through bribery. Thus, even drivers with legitimate licenses in many cases are otherwise not dependable as they have got their licenses without going through proper tests to establish their fitness. According to one assessment, the number of licensed drivers is some 0.9 million. But some 0.4 million are driving without proper licenses or no licenses at all. This alone should put into sharp focus one of the main causes of road accidents from untrained or poorly trained drivers operating freely on the roads. This practice must be put to an end and also the corruption in certifying vehicles as fit for movement in exchange of bribes. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles long past their operating life are seen on the roads. It is incredible but a fact that many of them do not even approach the authorities for renewing their fitness certificates but mange as and when necessary by bribing the traffic policemen on the roads. Sometimes, these vehicles get fitness certificates and also renew them through similar bribery at the offices of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). It should be obvious why the sternest of steps need to be taken to take these unfit vehicles off the roads for eliminating their accident making potentials. Capital punishment for reckless driving was withdrawn after pressure from organized unions of transport sector workers. Every effort should be made to reintroduce such penalty for its deterrent value. The writer is a contributor to The Independent