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Road mishaps and indifference
Syed Ishtiaque Reza
1/19/2006
There were deaths on the highways in many parts of the country during the eid holidays this time. The accidents occurred as buses ran races and then fell into the waters of the ditches or collided head on with others. As usual the authorities said they had nothing to do as the accidents occurred because of dense fog. But the question is: Whether can the authorities move against the errant drivers of the buses involved in the deliberate accidents on the highways?
Bangladesh has a very high road accident fatality rate with official figures indicating more than 60 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles. Official statistics say that everyday around eight persons die in road accidents. The actual rate of fatality may be even much higher.
As a whole, buses and trucks are involved in more than 20 per cent of accidents. Since car ownership is insignificant outside Dhaka city, those do not figure prominently in the any statistics.
The high rate of fatal accidents in Bangladesh is cause for alarm and is also unacceptable. It is understood that the road network here is in poor
condition and maintained badly. The streets of Dhaka are extremely
congested, with hundreds of thousands of rickshaws competing with baby taxis, auto tempos, cars, overloaded buses, and trucks on the limited road space. Inter-city roads are narrow. Driving at night is especially dangerous. Streetlights are rare even in the cities.
Road accidents are taking an increasing toll of human lives. Not only has safety not been enhanced but it seems journey by road is becoming more hazardous. The high toll cannot be explained away as just accident or a consequence of fog. Something must be deeply wrong with the entire traffic management. It is futile to blame fog. No vehicle is expected to ply when visibility is poor. So when an accident is attributed to fog, it should be read as driver's irresponsibility, impatience and recklessness. The laxity at all levels is pathetically manifested in times like these when movement of people and vehicles increases.
Every year about four thousand people die in road accidents and 10 thousand persons are injured, resulting in permanent disability for many. It is possible to cite higher accident rates in other countries but proportionate to the number of vehicles, this country's rate of accident is one of the highest in the world.
It is believed that weak laws and lack of vigilance by the government
agencies are causing several thousand accidents claiming nearly
thousands of lives every year and injuring many.
The annual report of Bangladesh Manabadhikar Bureau, a civil society group, revealed that 3,437 people were killed and 15,742 were injured in 3,122 accidents in 2005. But the unofficial number of deaths is three times higher than the official one, Bangladesh Accident Research Centre sources said.
Transport owners admit that many inexperienced drivers are on the roads. They have been demanding training for drivers by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). The Bangladesh Accident Research Centre said there are three factors behind all accidents -- inexperienced drivers, rundown roads and unfit vehicles. What is particularly striking is that despite the unacceptable frequency of road accidents, no deterrent action is in sight and vehicle owners, drivers, the police and the BRTA all get away.
And transport owners whose indifference towards safety of passengers seems conspicuous is kept out of the entire legal procedure. They do not even have to pay compensation or insurance
premium as there is no mandatory passenger insurance. And the authorities who issue driving licences and fitness certificates are never called to account. Thus nothing is learnt from experience and nothing changes and people continue to die. According to statistics, not even in one per cent cases the driver is awarded any punishment. The reasons for the accidents are not far to seek.
Defective vehicles and corruption in issuing fitness certificate, reckless driving, irregularities in traffic department and licencing procedure etc., are all responsible for such accidents. Add to these the fact that neither the cases of accidents are seriously probed nor violators are punished. And there is no system of payment of compensation. Penalty for reckless driving resulting in deaths had been made tougher but, under pressure of transport owners and drivers, the provision was rescinded. But toughness of penalty is immaterial when everyone gets scot free and there is poor enforcement of law.
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