Punishment for violating traffic rules

It is really great to hear that law enforcers have imposed fine on the jaywalkers who try to jaywalk at the Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue from 25th November. Possibly this is the first time I have heard that the government has imposed some kind of punishment on those breaking traffic rules. I take it as 'well begun is half done'.

However, now I am eagerly waiting to see law enforcers imposing tough punishment on those who drive on the wrong side of the road. Driving on the wrong side has become common practice in Dhaka city thoroughfares and it is taking a heavy toll on common people's lives. Very frequently, we see people being killed by errant, wrong-side drivers. But unfortunately there has been no remedy to such killing so far.

Wrong-side driving is mostly done by government officials and the double-deckers of Dhaka and Jagannath University, and sometimes by a few car or bus drivers who take short-cuts instead of going a long way for a U-turn. Very normally, on the one-way thoroughfares people keep looking only on the right side and remain indifferent about the left, and this is the why, accidents occur due to vehicles coming from the wrong side, i.e., the left side. I wrote many a time about this to the law enforces and the Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University, but to no response.

In our country nothing happens unless the Prime Minister gives a directive. May I humbly request her to give a directive to the concerned authority to stop wrong-side driving once and for all. And may I also request the Supreme Court to issue a ruling declaring accidents from wrong-side driving as 'murder'.

Shoeib Shazzad Khan

shazzad@manusher.org

Manusher Jonno Foundation, Dhaka