Casualties in road accidents

According to a recent report published in a vernacular daily as many as 210 persons have been killed in traffic accidents in the country in January. That means seven persons have died every day. And of course many more have been permanently maimed. 
It is a given that a number of people who go out of home for different reasons do so with the knowledge that some will never return because of traffic accidents. Quite alarmingly Bangladesh has the second highest number of deaths per 10,000 vehicles in the countries of Asia, Europe and Australia. According to the World Health Organisation, the country loses an estimated 1.2 billion pounds due to road accidents per year, equivalent to 2 per cent of the GDP.
The main reasons for road accidents include poor vehicle condition, ignoring traffic rules and instruction marks on roads, signal breaking as well as speeding, wheelie, use of mobile while driving, wrong overtaking, use of drug, wrong parking, overloading and bad road condition, etc.
First, we have the needs of properly designed roads and even traffic signs. If either of these is not up to standard, it could be cause for a traffic accident. Of course, the primary reason for traffic accidents is fast and rash driving but that can be checked by vigilant policing. In addition to that, vehicles need to meet the necessary international fitness and road safety standards. Thought also needs to be given to protecting the infrastructure that one finds along roads, since it can be prone to accidents. In this context encroachments and illegal structures along roads must be removed without delay.
Drivers should be punished on a system based on points where beyond a certain number of violations, they lose their license to drive for a fixed period of time. As for the traffic police, they need to be trained better and should be efficient at not only managing the flow of traffic but also in fining those who break traffic laws.
There is also a dire need for a system where there is prompt reporting of traffic accidents so that emergency services can reach in as short a time as possible. An audit of road safety measures would also help because it will plug weaknesses in the system.

 

Casualties in road accidents

According to a recent report published in a vernacular daily as many as 210 persons have been killed in traffic accidents in the country in January. That means seven persons have died every day. And of course many more have been permanently maimed. It is a given that a number of people who go out of home for different reasons do so with the knowledge that some will never return because of traffic accidents. Quite alarmingly Bangladesh has the second highest number of deaths per 10,000 vehicles in the countries of Asia, Europe and Australia. According to the World Health Organisation, the country loses an estimated 1.2 billion pounds due to road accidents per year, equivalent to 2 per cent of the GDP. The main reasons for road accidents include poor vehicle condition, ignoring traffic rules and instruction marks on roads, signal breaking as well as speeding, wheelie, use of mobile while driving, wrong overtaking, use of drug, wrong parking, overloading and bad road condition, etc. First, we have the needs of properly designed roads and even traffic signs. If either of these is not up to standard, it could be cause for a traffic accident. Of course, the primary reason for traffic accidents is fast and rash driving but that can be checked by vigilant policing. In addition to that, vehicles need to meet the necessary international fitness and road safety standards. Thought also needs to be given to protecting the infrastructure that one finds along roads, since it can be prone to accidents. In this context encroachments and illegal structures along roads must be removed without delay. Drivers should be punished on a system based on points where beyond a certain number of violations, they lose their license to drive for a fixed period of time. As for the traffic police, they need to be trained better and should be efficient at not only managing the flow of traffic but also in fining those who break traffic laws. There is also a dire need for a system where there is prompt reporting of traffic accidents so that emergency services can reach in as short a time as possible. An audit of road safety measures would also help because it will plug weaknesses in the system.