Lifting bike ban on Padma Bridge

Among the vehicles that crossed the Padma Bridge on the first day, 60 per cent were motorbikes, report media outlets citing the authorities. Motorcycles' mad races on the bridge soon turned tragic when two bikers were killed in an accident on the first day of the bridge opening to traffic. Since then, the bridge authorities have banned motorcycles.
In Bangladesh, we have grown a culture of banning. To many of us, whenever there is a problem, there should be a ban. Banning motorbikes on the Padma Bridge or the Mawa-Dhaka Expressway can never be a solution. Yes, it is true that motorcycle is more accident-prone than other vehicles. But this can never justify this ban. We can adopt a process of educating our bikers in particular and the public in general about road safety rules, and enforce such rules with strict policing. Instead of applying that, the authorities went for a quick-fix solution. We must remember that no transport is safe from road crashes. This is why we should not single out bikers only. If we do not lift the ban, we will deprive a large portion of our people from using the country's largest bridge.

Badsha Faysal,
Jurain, Dhaka,
badshafaysal1998@gmail.com