Accidents that do not prick the conscience
Monday, 4 October 2010
Shamsul Huq Zahid
That roads and highways have become like deathtraps for pedestrians and passengers of all modes of road transportation does not require any elaboration. The media reports do testify to that fact everyday.
But what is more worrying is that the number of road accidents have increased, of late, with the authorities concerned doing little to address the issue.
Road accidents, according to a study carried out recently by an organization called Accident Research Institute (ARI), kill nearly 12,000 people across the country each year and 75 per cent of them are rural people. It said about 80 per cent of the road accident victims belong to the age group between 05 and 45 years, which have significant social and economic impact.
But the actual number of deaths in road accidents, in all probability, would be much more than what has been mentioned in the ARI study for many such deaths are not recorded with the police stations concerned.
In addition to loss of lives, accidents do leave many people crippled for rest of their lives. The physical disability, in many cases, gives rise to a psychological traumatic condition among many victims. The death of the only bread earners put many families in financial distress.
In fact, if any event, tragic or otherwise, does take place almost everyday, it hardly creates any impact on people’s emotion. The accident on roads and highways is such an event. Most newspaper readers or the television viewers do not react to a news on a major road accident as they do in the case of a major train accident or a passenger launch capsize.
There is no denying that there has been extensive extension of the country’s road network in recent years. The areas which were inaccessible by road even ten years are connected well to district headquarters and the capital by paved roads. Such an easy access has led to the deployment of greater number of buses and other motorized vehicles and movement of goods and passengers. So, an increased movement of vehicles and passengers has, obviously, raised the number of accidents on roads and highways that are maintained very poorly by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and patrolled inadequately by the highway police.
The volume of traffic on roads and highways of many countries is far greater than that in Bangladesh. But road accidents are not daily events in those countries because of their well-planned road networks, strong vigilance over the efficiency of the drivers of all vehicles and provisions for tough legal actions against faulty driving.
Many people tend to believe that the number of road accidents and the fatalities associated with those are less than the potentials in Bangladesh. Such a view might appear rather a cynical one. But the fact remains that the prevailing pitiable conditions of roads and highways and rash driving and encroachment and plying of faulty vehicles have made the journey through roads and highways highly unsafe.
Potholes, subsidence, encroachment, poor road alignment etc., have made the roads very much risky for motorized vehicles. That the government departments concerned have been failing to do the required maintenance and repair of roads and highways came up for discussion at a meeting held between the business leaders and the minister for communications Saturday last. The business leaders requested the minister to take immediate steps to improve the country’ road network, including the main lifeline of its economy—the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Reportedly, now it takes more than 15 hours, instead of usual five to six hours, to cross over the distance between the two cities. Bad road conditions, haphazard parking of vehicles on the road sides and encroachment are responsible for the delay.
More than anything else, the rash driving of vehicles, particularly by the drivers of passengers and trucks, is responsible for frequent road accidents. The drivers of these vehicles give a damn to traffic laws and rules once they are on the roads. The failure of the authorities concerned, including the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and the highway police, to enforce laws have always contributed to the development of a defiant attitude among the drivers of motorized vehicles.
A voluntary organization, named, Nirapad Sarak Chai, has been trying to make the government agencies concerned, professional drivers in particular and people in general aware of the dangers of road accidents and their impact on life and living of families of the victims. But, unfortunately, the roads and highways are becoming increasingly unsafe. The government does need to reduce the number of road accidents by taking up all necessary measures.
That roads and highways have become like deathtraps for pedestrians and passengers of all modes of road transportation does not require any elaboration. The media reports do testify to that fact everyday.
But what is more worrying is that the number of road accidents have increased, of late, with the authorities concerned doing little to address the issue.
Road accidents, according to a study carried out recently by an organization called Accident Research Institute (ARI), kill nearly 12,000 people across the country each year and 75 per cent of them are rural people. It said about 80 per cent of the road accident victims belong to the age group between 05 and 45 years, which have significant social and economic impact.
But the actual number of deaths in road accidents, in all probability, would be much more than what has been mentioned in the ARI study for many such deaths are not recorded with the police stations concerned.
In addition to loss of lives, accidents do leave many people crippled for rest of their lives. The physical disability, in many cases, gives rise to a psychological traumatic condition among many victims. The death of the only bread earners put many families in financial distress.
In fact, if any event, tragic or otherwise, does take place almost everyday, it hardly creates any impact on people’s emotion. The accident on roads and highways is such an event. Most newspaper readers or the television viewers do not react to a news on a major road accident as they do in the case of a major train accident or a passenger launch capsize.
There is no denying that there has been extensive extension of the country’s road network in recent years. The areas which were inaccessible by road even ten years are connected well to district headquarters and the capital by paved roads. Such an easy access has led to the deployment of greater number of buses and other motorized vehicles and movement of goods and passengers. So, an increased movement of vehicles and passengers has, obviously, raised the number of accidents on roads and highways that are maintained very poorly by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and patrolled inadequately by the highway police.
The volume of traffic on roads and highways of many countries is far greater than that in Bangladesh. But road accidents are not daily events in those countries because of their well-planned road networks, strong vigilance over the efficiency of the drivers of all vehicles and provisions for tough legal actions against faulty driving.
Many people tend to believe that the number of road accidents and the fatalities associated with those are less than the potentials in Bangladesh. Such a view might appear rather a cynical one. But the fact remains that the prevailing pitiable conditions of roads and highways and rash driving and encroachment and plying of faulty vehicles have made the journey through roads and highways highly unsafe.
Potholes, subsidence, encroachment, poor road alignment etc., have made the roads very much risky for motorized vehicles. That the government departments concerned have been failing to do the required maintenance and repair of roads and highways came up for discussion at a meeting held between the business leaders and the minister for communications Saturday last. The business leaders requested the minister to take immediate steps to improve the country’ road network, including the main lifeline of its economy—the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Reportedly, now it takes more than 15 hours, instead of usual five to six hours, to cross over the distance between the two cities. Bad road conditions, haphazard parking of vehicles on the road sides and encroachment are responsible for the delay.
More than anything else, the rash driving of vehicles, particularly by the drivers of passengers and trucks, is responsible for frequent road accidents. The drivers of these vehicles give a damn to traffic laws and rules once they are on the roads. The failure of the authorities concerned, including the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and the highway police, to enforce laws have always contributed to the development of a defiant attitude among the drivers of motorized vehicles.
A voluntary organization, named, Nirapad Sarak Chai, has been trying to make the government agencies concerned, professional drivers in particular and people in general aware of the dangers of road accidents and their impact on life and living of families of the victims. But, unfortunately, the roads and highways are becoming increasingly unsafe. The government does need to reduce the number of road accidents by taking up all necessary measures.