Foot over-bridges are mostly under-utilised

Dhaka has many foot over-bridges. Unfortunately, most pedestrians do not use them. They prefer to cross the busy roads thus risking their lives in the process. It has been found during a recent study on road accidents in Bangladesh that 34 per cent of accidents occurred while pedestrians were trying to cross busy roads.

We can lower the number of casualties among pedestrians simply by generating awareness on road safety and promoting the usage of public road safety tools. Foot over-bridge is an essential tool for road safety. The awareness on road safety can come from family members, friends as well as academic institutions where children and young adults are studying.

Also, the two Dhaka city corporations should keep the foot over-bridges clean and free from encroachment by beggars and hawkers. This will encourage pedestrians to use foot over-bridges. If efforts from all quarters of Dhaka's population can be ensured, then the number of road accidents will drastically decrease.

Imran Aziz,

Niketon, Dhaka