Effective law enforcement key to lessening road fatalities: Expert
UNB
Amid the alarming rise in road accidents in Bangladesh, an international expert on road safety has said regular and effective enforcement of relevant laws and joint efforts can help lessen the fatalities and save economic losses, reports UNB.
Of course heavy penalty or punishment does help. But regular [law] enforcement helps the most thats the key, Ratanawadee H Winther, Chairperson of Asian Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation, Thailand branch, told UNB in an interview on Saturday.
Winther, who arrived here barely two weeks back, however, said the government cannot take the entire responsibility alone since everybody has a role to play for safe roads as all are using those. Referring to study findings on economic losses of road accidents, the Canadian expert said the losses from road accidents in Thailand is around 3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Im pretty sure itll be much here in Bangladesh. If its less, probably it wont be that much less. It (road accident) has a big economic impact, Winther insisted. Since her arrival in Dhaka, Winther said, she has found road accident news in newspapers almost every day.
A total of 248 people were killed in road accidents in the country within just 12 days before and after Eid-ul-Azha while 11 people on Friday in different parts of the country, according to available information. The expert said only having strict enforcement ahead of big festivals or occasions is not the solution as the focus should be given on regular enforcement.
Responding to a question, Winther, also wife of newly appointed Danish Ambassador-designate to Bangladesh Mikael Hemniti Winther, said it is essential to have safe roads, safe vehicles, safe public transport system and of course safe behaviours to prevent injuries. Youll have to think about medical responses, too so that injured people can be taken to hospitals quickly, she said.
Winther laid emphasis on data collection with better evidence to deal with the challenges. She suggested formation of responsible organisations to manage road safety and oversee work together with government agencies and gving more emphasis on awareness building among all.
I think regular enforcement, education and medical response can yield positive results, Winther said mentioning that road safety issues should be included in the curricula of educational institutions so that all can play a responsible role. According to Hanoi-based AIP Foundation, half of lives lost on the worlds roads are motorcyclists, cyclists, and pedestrians. Some 92 per cent of road deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries and the road injury will be the 7th leading cause of death by 2030 if there is no action, data shows.
According to a study conducted by the Accident Research Centre (ARC) of BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology), road accidents claim 12,000 lives on average annually and lead to about 35,000 injuries.
