Fake driving license: A common phenomenon

A recent study shows that most of the vehicle drivers do not have valid driving licenses. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and the traffic police department indicated the fact as most dangerous and distressing. According to a Financial Express report, more than one million drivers are driving cars and buses without a genuine license. According to the report, frequent road accidents can be attributed to fake licenses and inefficient drivers.

The drivers do not have any formal or academic training. Moreover, they do not have any formal letter of employment or written agreement with their employers. Both physical and mental stability of the drivers are necessary to avoid road accidents. The drivers are more often put in job insecurity. Inadequate number of driving schools and lack of awareness are also responsible for the rising number of road accidents. BRTA is trying to keep the up-to-date record of the number of drivers with fake licenses. The record shows that a total of nearly 2.3 million vehicles were registered in 2013 and at the same time, 1.43 million licenses were issued to the motorists.

Corruption has made BRTA almost motionless. The communications minister himself once wondered how the five vehicles inspection centres remained inoperative for decades. Some corrupt employees of BRTA deliberately keep the machines inoperative to inflate their pockets. The minister was reported to have further said that the fitness certificates are being given manually to serve rent-seeking purposes. Some 4,000 people die in road accidents while property worth around Tk.50.0 billion is damaged annually in Bangladesh, according to a rough reckoning. Steps have been taken to reduce the number of deaths and extent of damages by proper training under the ministries concerned.

A recent statistics says, more than 90,000 drivers have gone abroad for jobs but many of them are facing problems as they actually do not have legal licenses. If similar situation continues for several years, our roads shall become a death trap. It is high time for the authorities to identify all drivers with fake licenses and bring them under proper training. As an alert citizen of Bangladesh, each one of us has also some duties to follow. We must follow the rules and instructions to ensure road safety. Passengers should protest when drivers are trying to drive recklessly. The owners of the buses and trucks have an important role to play in this regard. They can reduce the number of fake licenses by ensuring that the drivers who are employed by them have legal licenses and are properly trained. This will also protect their vehicles from damages. Education on road safety at primary level is also a good way to raise awareness so that our next generation can feel the importance of road safety and act accordingly.

Ashek Ahmed (Shahed)

Student

East West University

the_ashek@yahoo.com