Road safety elusive

Bangladesh second highest in accident fatality; lack of law enforcement blamed

Concern over road safety is growing following the sudden rise in road accidents over the past couple of days across the country.
Lives of those who commute from one place to another using the roads and highways across the country have now been rendered most vulnerable.
After the loss of 40 lives in 4 days starting from the Eid vacation, 22 more people were killed and 90 injured in road accidents across the country yesterday. Experts attribute these accidents mostly to vehicles without fitness certificates and route permits.
An international survey says Bangladesh ranks second in terms of deaths in road accidents among the countries of Europe, Australia and Asia. The highest number of accidents occurs in Nepal and the lowest in United Kingdom.
According to a data readied by World Health Organization (WHO) with information  from police and hospital sources, the figure of people died in road accidents in Bangladesh in last 10 years numbers over 50,000.
Even in the first six months of this year, 40 people died on an average in the country.
On the other hand, some 313,000 vehicles out of a total of 2,105,140 are operating across the country without fitness certificates, according to sources in the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
 Also, some 93,600 out of about 800,000 vehicles plying on the roads in Dhaka city are not fitness certified, they said.
BRTA Director (engineering) Saiful Haque told The Independent that all vehicles must pass at least 30 different tests to get fitness certificates. “We've only 70 inspectors who are in charge of issuing fitness certificates to over 20 lakh vehicles,” he said.
 He admitted that BRTA officials have been issuing fitness certificates to vehicles without properly following the inspection procedures set by the transport regulatory body. He said the main conditions for fitness are unchanged original design, proper functioning of brakes and gears, proper functioning of lights, no emission of black smoke and proper paint. “But in most cases, it's not possible for the inspectors to check all these factors,” he added. He also said many unfit buses, most of them without any route permits, are plying on the highways to ferry passengers across the country. “Large numbers of vehicles are plying on the road without route permits, and most of these are old and unfit,” he added.

He further said the regional transport committee, headed by the respective deputy commissioner of each district, is in charge of issuing route permits to vehicles that ply on intra-district routes, while the divisional committee, headed by him, is in charge of issuing permits for vehicles plying on inter-district routes.
“For inter-district routes, bus-owners usually have good-conditioned buses and take route permits from the BRTA. But buses plying on intra-district routes are poorly monitored because of lack of law enforcement. There are many unfit buses that operate on such routes,” he added.  
Haque said the BRTA has decided to outsource vehicle fitness inspection through motor workshops to change the prevailing situation. “We've also amended Rule 70 of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1983, and included sub-section 70-A—where it is stated that the licensing and registration of motor workshops should be given by the transport regulator—in accordance with the existing number of vehicles,” he added.
“In other countries, authorised workshops successfully check the fitness of vehicles. If we manage to do the same, there will be fewer vehicles without fitness on the streets,” he told The Independent.
A former police chief, on condition of anonymity, told The Independent that none of the initiatives taken by the government will work unless the anomalies and corruption in the BRTA and the traffic division of the police are removed.
The former police boss said, “It doesn’t need an expert to figure out that most of the vehicles on our roads are unfit. Also most of the drivers of these vehicles are plying on road without any valid license. They keep driving just by greasing the palm of the traffic police.”
Khandakar Enayetullah, president of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Samity, said they are also looking for ways to curb the number of accidents.
“We need to create awareness among the drivers as well as among the passengers and pedestrians. Otherwise no initiative will work,” he added.
Meanwhile, of yesterday’s 22 deaths, Gazipur and Tangail witnessed eight deaths each, Sylhet three, Brahmanbaria two and Narail one.  
Our correspondent from Gazipur reports that at least eight people including six of a family were killed when a DEMU train rammed a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at Haidarabad area on Dhaka-Joydevpur rail track of the district.
The deceased were identified as Mohammed Shah Alam,36, of Narsingdi sader, his wife Peara Begum, 30, his sister-in-law Saimun,8, Shah Alam’s two children Sadia,4, and Yasin,6, his cousin  Al Amin,27, Liton,24, and auto-rickshaw driver Golam Mostafa,20.
Our Tangail correspondent reports that at least eight people were killed and 25 others were injured when a bus plunged into a roadside ditch at Patkhaguri in Bashail upazila of the district.
Witnesses and police sources said a Dhaka-bound bus of ‘Binimoy Paribahan’ fell into the roadside ditch after its driver lost control over his steering around 3:30pm, leaving eight people dead on the spot.
In Sylhet, at least three people were killed and 25 others injured when a bus plunged into a roadside ditch at Osmaninagar upazila.
Officer-in-charge of Osmaninagar Police Station Morsalin Ahmed said a Sylhet-bound bus skidded off the road and fell into the ditch at Brahmansashon around 12:15pm after its driver lost control over the steering, leaving three passengers dead on the spot and 20 others injured.
In Brahmanbaria, two people were killed and three others injured in a collision between a bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Islamabad area of Sarail upazila.  
The deceased were identified as Darbesh Ali, 37, of Brahmanbaria sadar upazila and Injamul Haque, 25, a second year student of Brahmanbaria Govt College.
In Narail, the driver of a battery-run three-wheeler was killed after it collided with a bus at Police Station intersection of the town. The deceased was identified as Mohsin Sikdar, 38, of Simakhali village under sadar upazila of the district.

Road safety elusive

Bangladesh second highest in accident fatality; lack of law enforcement blamed

Concern over road safety is growing following the sudden rise in road accidents over the past couple of days across the country. Lives of those who commute from one place to another using the roads and highways across the country have now been rendered most vulnerable. After the loss of 40 lives in 4 days starting from the Eid vacation, 22 more people were killed and 90 injured in road accidents across the country yesterday. Experts attribute these accidents mostly to vehicles without fitness certificates and route permits. An international survey says Bangladesh ranks second in terms of deaths in road accidents among the countries of Europe, Australia and Asia. The highest number of accidents occurs in Nepal and the lowest in United Kingdom. According to a data readied by World Health Organization (WHO) with information from police and hospital sources, the figure of people died in road accidents in Bangladesh in last 10 years numbers over 50,000. Even in the first six months of this year, 40 people died on an average in the country. On the other hand, some 313,000 vehicles out of a total of 2,105,140 are operating across the country without fitness certificates, according to sources in the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). Also, some 93,600 out of about 800,000 vehicles plying on the roads in Dhaka city are not fitness certified, they said. BRTA Director (engineering) Saiful Haque told The Independent that all vehicles must pass at least 30 different tests to get fitness certificates. Weve only 70 inspectors who are in charge of issuing fitness certificates to over 20 lakh vehicles, he said. He admitted that BRTA officials have been issuing fitness certificates to vehicles without properly following the inspection procedures set by the transport regulatory body. He said the main conditions for fitness are unchanged original design, proper functioning of brakes and gears, proper functioning of lights, no emission of black smoke and proper paint. But in most cases, its not possible for the inspectors to check all these factors, he added. He also said many unfit buses, most of them without any route permits, are plying on the highways to ferry passengers across the country. Large numbers of vehicles are plying on the road without route permits, and most of these are old and unfit, he added. He further said the regional transport committee, headed by the respective deputy commissioner of each district, is in charge of issuing route permits to vehicles that ply on intra-district routes, while the divisional committee, headed by him, is in charge of issuing permits for vehicles plying on inter-district routes. For inter-district routes, bus-owners usually have good-conditioned buses and take route permits from the BRTA. But buses plying on intra-district routes are poorly monitored because of lack of law enforcement. There are many unfit buses that operate on such routes, he added. Haque said the BRTA has decided to outsource vehicle fitness inspection through motor workshops to change the prevailing situation. Weve also amended Rule 70 of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1983, and included sub-section 70-Awhere it is stated that the licensing and registration of motor workshops should be given by the transport regulatorin accordance with the existing number of vehicles, he added. In other countries, authorised workshops successfully check the fitness of vehicles. If we manage to do the same, there will be fewer vehicles without fitness on the streets, he told The Independent. A former police chief, on condition of anonymity, told The Independent that none of the initiatives taken by the government will work unless the anomalies and corruption in the BRTA and the traffic division of the police are removed. The former police boss said, It doesnt need an expert to figure out that most of the vehicles on our roads are unfit. Also most of the drivers of these vehicles are plying on road without any valid license. They keep driving just by greasing the palm of the traffic police. Khandakar Enayetullah, president of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Samity, said they are also looking for ways to curb the number of accidents. We need to create awareness among the drivers as well as among the passengers and pedestrians. Otherwise no initiative will work, he added. Meanwhile, of yesterdays 22 deaths, Gazipur and Tangail witnessed eight deaths each, Sylhet three, Brahmanbaria two and Narail one. Our correspondent from Gazipur reports that at least eight people including six of a family were killed when a DEMU train rammed a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at Haidarabad area on Dhaka-Joydevpur rail track of the district. The deceased were identified as Mohammed Shah Alam,36, of Narsingdi sader, his wife Peara Begum, 30, his sister-in-law Saimun,8, Shah Alams two children Sadia,4, and Yasin,6, his cousin Al Amin,27, Liton,24, and auto-rickshaw driver Golam Mostafa,20. Our Tangail correspondent reports that at least eight people were killed and 25 others were injured when a bus plunged into a roadside ditch at Patkhaguri in Bashail upazila of the district. Witnesses and police sources said a Dhaka-bound bus of Binimoy Paribahan fell into the roadside ditch after its driver lost control over his steering around 3:30pm, leaving eight people dead on the spot. In Sylhet, at least three people were killed and 25 others injured when a bus plunged into a roadside ditch at Osmaninagar upazila. Officer-in-charge of Osmaninagar Police Station Morsalin Ahmed said a Sylhet-bound bus skidded off the road and fell into the ditch at Brahmansashon around 12:15pm after its driver lost control over the steering, leaving three passengers dead on the spot and 20 others injured. In Brahmanbaria, two people were killed and three others injured in a collision between a bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Islamabad area of Sarail upazila. The deceased were identified as Darbesh Ali, 37, of Brahmanbaria sadar upazila and Injamul Haque, 25, a second year student of Brahmanbaria Govt College. In Narail, the driver of a battery-run three-wheeler was killed after it collided with a bus at Police Station intersection of the town. The deceased was identified as Mohsin Sikdar, 38, of Simakhali village under sadar upazila of the district.