Significance of speed limit on road safety
Most of the drivers come from the poor or middle class background and start their career as helper of a bus, truck, lorry, etc.
M. Zahidul Islam
We have been experiencing a series of road accidents along with our vibrant economic activities throughout the country. From 2005 to 2017 in 55,141 road accidents we lost 61,512 people and injured other 102,618 individuals and in 2018 at least 2,471 people died in 2,353 road accidents across the country in the past six months (according to the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways). One of the major causes of the road accident is the high speed and reckless driving. An analysis of 14 years (1998 to 2012) of data of the Accident Research Institute (ARI) indicates that 91per cent of the 49,777 road accidents occurred due to high speeds and reckless driving. A total of 42,526 people died in these accidents. In another study of ARI in 2016 revealed that Speeding contributes to more than 53per cent of all road accidents that took place in this country. So, we must have to address this problem to save valuable life and make our journey safe to continue our vital economic growth.
Since the dawn of the motor vehicle use (towards the end of the 19th century) people have been using speed limit on road mainly for two reasons: a) to reduce accidents and b) tomake cost-effective travel. The speed-limit law was first introduced in Great Britain in 1860 and Bangladesh included it in Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1972 (modified in 1983, is being revised).
The Government of Bangladesh has taken a number of steps to contain this problem and many organisations, communities and agencies have been involved, including:1) Road and Highways Department (RHD), 2) Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), 3) Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA, 4) ARI, BUET, 5) Bangladesh Police, 6) National Road Security Council (NRSC), 7) NGOs ( BRAC, Chevron etc.), 8) Nirapad Sarak Chai (We demand Safe Road), 9) Safe Road and Transport Alliance (SROTA), 10) Bangladesh SarakParibahan Malik Samity,11) Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation, 12) Bangladesh Passengers Welfare Association ( BPWA), 13) Dhaka Road Transport Owner Association, 14) Dhaka Metro Regional Transport Committee, 15) National Human Rights Commission, 16) National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCPSRR), 17) Dhaka Urban Transport Network Development, 18) Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association, 19) Power and Participation Research Centre, 20) DNCC/DSCC, RAJUKetc.
The road network of Bangladesh consists of National highways, Regional highways, Zila or District roads and Upazila roads. Out of these, the RHD manages: National highways (3,790.861km),Regional highways (4,206.121 km) and Zila roads (13,121.757 km) and the total road length is 21,118.739 km. In upazilas the total length of road network constructed by LEGD is about 149,167 km to connect upazilas, unions, thana headquarters, growth centres and villages.
The vehicles act determines the speed limits on the highways for buses, coaches and pickups is 55km/hr. For heavy trucks and lorries it is 50km/hr. For tractors and other heavy vehicles it is 30km/hr. And for private cars it is 110km/hr. In the cities and other public places the speed limit for buses, coaches, pickups, heavy trucks and lorries is 40km/hr. For tractors and heavy vehicles it is 20km/hr. For private cars it is 50km/hr. The government changes the speed limits time to time.
The remarkable measures so far taken to control the speed limits include:
1. The Road Transport Act 2017 and Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1983 address the issue of road accidents due to speeding, but it has proved to be ineffective because of utter disregard for this law and lack of proper implementation.
2. Recently the government declared the speed limit of vehicles on highways across the country at 80 km/h and for foggy conditions it will be 50 km/h and if the fog becomes very thick the vehicle must be stopped. In the capital the maximum speed limit will be 40km/h.
3. A speed governor seal will be installed in all highway buses to reduce accidents by speedy driving. The ban on three-wheeler/auto-rickshaws on highways will continue.
4. Speed breakers provided on highways to curtail speeding but in many instances it serves as one of the causes of speeding related accidents.
5. The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has been operational at national, districts (DRSCs), and upazila (URSCs) level but requires to be more active.
6. Government directives to include road safety components in all important road projects of RHD and LGED.
7. The 6th Road Safety Strategic Plan has identified setting up a record system on completed road safety schemes as an action priority.
8. Currently awareness programs targeted to drivers, school children and local community are undertaken by the RHD and LGED as well as by some civic groups. BRAC has been active in the road safety awareness agenda and undertook a number of assessments of the LGED and RHD awareness projects.
9. The highway police have been equipped with speedometers or speed guns to detect over-speeding and filing cases against those violating the speed limit. On average, 180 speeding cases are filed daily across the country.
10. National Road Safety Strategic Action Plan: 8 Plans at National Level which start from 1997: a)First Plan1997-99 and b)Latest 2017-2019 (Draft)
11. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG):7th Five Year Plan (SDG Goal 3.6 Goal 11.2)
12. The ARI has developed a project having title: Speed Enforcement, Incident Detection and Emergency System for Safer Bangladesh National Highwaysto stop speeding and carry out prompt rescue operations at the scene of a crash. The project is currently under process.
13. Recently the High Court set a maximum speed limit of 20 km/h for vehicles in residential and VIP areas of the capital, also after 10 pm, following a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).
14. Bangladesh Road Sign Manual of BRTA recommends various speed limits for different types of roads based on the locations, use, width, geometric standards etc. and the speed limits that should be signed are: 25, 40, 50, 60 km/h. The traffic speed is meant the 85th percentile speed of motor vehicle traffic, i.e., the speed which only 15per cent of vehicles exceed.
15. The government identified 265 black spots or dicey areas which are highly prone to accidents where driving at high speeds causes accident. The government has been trying to solve this problem. In highways there will be a separate lane for low speed vehicles.
All the above measures appear to be appropriate and very effective but unfortunately could not produce desired results due to some reasons that already known to us. Now its the time to face the challenges to achieve the goals. The major concerns relating to speed limit are as follows.
Determining the maximum speed limit High speeds aggravate the chance of collisions, injuries and fatal consequences where a low speed risks the time-loss and a threat to vital economic growth. It entails the need for a safe speed limit for all road users that helps to maintain safe environment and facilitate economic growth in a sustainable way. Speed limits should be seen by the drivers as the maximum rather than a target speed. The following factors should be considered to select an appropriate speed limit:
Road function (strategic, through traffic, local access etc.)
Road geometry (width, sightlines, bends, junctions and accesses etc.)
Road environment (rural, residential, shop frontages, schools, hospitals, etc.)
Level of adjacent development, and potential changes
Composition (including existing and potential levels of pedestrian, animal and cycle usage)
Risk-perception of different road users, drivers and riders of motor vehicles towards hazards
The minimum length of a speed limit should be not less than 600 metres to avoid too many changes along the route.
Drivers training on speed limit
How to maintain and control the speed limit during driving needs to be given special emphasis in drivers training programme. It will make them efficient to drive carefully on roads of various speed limits, keeping their vehicle at safe distance from the vehicle running in front, following the two-second rule on ideal road at normal weather (e.g. at 32 km/h a safe distance of 40ft or 3-cars length) and on wet roads (four-second rule) and on icy-roads (ten seconds rules). Training on speed limit prevents the drivers from accident by following the rules of stopping distance which is consists of thinking distance and breaking distance( e.g. at 32km/h the thinking distance is 20ft and breaking distance is 20ft). It means at 32km/h speed the driver can stop after 40ft where he will be thinking for stopping will take 20ft distance and then start breaking slowly for another 20ft would make the stopping very smooth and safe.
Use of speed controlling devices
There are so many devices used for controlling speeds on the road such as speed breakers, humps, ramps, static speed camera, speed gun etc. In the vehicle governor control seal, motor speed control cards, Tachograph etc. are used for speed control. In UK a speed limiter must be fitted on vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats, (e.g. buses, minibuses, coaches, stretch limousines etc.) and goods vehicles with a maximum laden weight of more than 3.5 tonnes. Among the devices the Tachograph is very effective for controlling speed limit as it records automatically the speed and distance of a vehicle. It provides the real time information of the drivers current drive and rest times along with warnings when nearing regulated driving time limits. It reduces the risks of exceeding the limits, increases the road safety and thus allows organisations to maximise the usage of their vehicles. Since 1 May 2006 EU rules require each vehicle must be fitted with digital tachograph head and Bangladesh may also consider similar provision for the safety of our roads.
Speed limit signs
In Bangladesh speed limit signs are not visible as it should be and its a big challenge to provide good visibility of the speed limit signsand road signs along the roads. It is very important for all the road users to know the speed limit of the road they are travelling on and the Government should make sure that the speed limit of the roads are known to public.
Updating speed limit laws and their enforcements
All the actors working for road safety felt it necessary to update the existing laws for a long time and at last the Government is going to enact new laws within the proposed Road Transport Authority Act 2018 very soon. The proper enforcement of the new laws would be very effective to ensure the safety of the roads.
Socio-economic condition of the drivers and the transport owners
Most of the drivers come from the poor or middle class background and start their career as helper of a bus, truck, lorry, etc. They learn driving from the senior driver (ustad) who they worked for and before getting adequate training they start driving on the road without any licence. On Sunday the 29 July 2018 two young college students Mim and Rajib lost their lives due to reckless high speed driving in the capital. Mr. Jahangir Alam the heart-broken father of victim Mim who has been driving bus for 30 years and also a former Executive Member of Dhaka District Bus and Minibus Workers Union, expressed his heart-rending feelings about this horrendous incident as: Many bus owners recruit drivers considering relationship and recommendations of known people without properly examining their driving skill. By doing this, they [recruiters] are virtually giving them [unskilled drivers] the licence to kill. I even saw drivers taking drugs while driving, many of them dont have the minimum training and basic knowledge on driving.
Many transport owners prefer to recruit unskilled young drivers to pay less salary and instead of paying fixed weekly or monthly salary they used to pay drivers on the basis of the number of trips each day. It compels the drivers to take the risks of making as much as trips possible to earn more money. Sometimes even they dont get enough time to take essential rests and to keep themselves stimulant they indulge in illegal drugs to continue driving for more trips. It triggers them to get on to reckless high speed driving that even leads them to fatal consequences. So its a great challenge for all concerned to address this issue including the Government, transport owners and the drivers.
Speed management is an essential part of safe driving on road and a sustainable transport system is an engine of our vital economic growth that can improve our quality of life and make our environment greener and safer. It is the responsibility of all road users to make our road safe where the Government initiative must work as the main driving force.
The writer is former Editor, Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh
