Traffic casualties can be prevented
Ripan Kumar Biswas | Saturday, 19 July 2008
TWO people were killed and three others injured in separate road accidents at Dinajpur and Munshiganj on July 11, 2008. On July 10, six people were killed and 44 others injured in separate road accidents in Mymensingh, Sirajganj, and Satkhira. Every print and electronic media in Bangladesh covered the deaths of thirteen people in different road accidents at Gopalganj and Mymensingh on July 9, two days after a road crash killed 22 bus passengers at Comilla. On July 8 a man was killed and 60 others injured on Dinajpur-Rangpur highway. Road accidents across the country claimed 11 lives on July 07. Four members of a family were killed on the Dhaka-Mawa highway on July 06. During the two day period -- between July 12 and July 14 -- a number of accidents must have taken place. Indeed, deaths caused by road accidents is increasing day by day.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says, every year 1.2 million
people die in road accidents worldwide making it, the seventh biggest killer, ahead of diabetes and malaria. The WHO predicted that between 2000 and 2015, road accidents would cause 20 million deaths, 200 million serious injuries. It also predicted that by 2020 road accidents would become the number three killer, behind heart disease and suicide.
Road accidents are increasing on an epidemic scale in many countries. There is a tendency to accept it as an inevitable consequence of ever increasing mobility. Failure to act could double the number of deaths by 2020. The injuries from road accidents would be the third highest contributor to the global burden of the injured. Permanent disability and deaths occur to many of the injured.
Road crashes, causing death, injury, and damage were always there. But a spate in road accidents in Bangladesh now needs to be treated as an outbreak of epidemic, with official death toll of nearly 4,000 a year. Neither the laws nor their enforcement are stringent enough to punish the offenders. The Accident Research Centre the of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), however, estimates the number of casualties at three times the official figure. The accidents are blamed mostly on badly maintained roads, faulty vehicles, inexperienced drivers, and disregard for traffic rules.
According to the police, a total of 3,749 people were killed and 3,273 injured in 4,869 road accidents in Bangladesh last year. About 15,000 people suffered injuries last year and many of them ended up being physically disabled and eventually jobless. In financial terms, the accidents cause a loss worth no less than Tk 50 billion (5,000 crore) annually or about 2.0 per cent of the GDP.
The value placed on human lives is discouraging and outdated. The road accidents cause pain and deaths without the needed help. Many suffer silently out of fear of being accused as the cause of the accident. The problem was compounded by a virtual absence of emergency response system and pre-hospital care for the victims.
The road accidents place an enormous strain on the country's healthcare system and on the national economies, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the occasion of the First UN Global Road Safety Week, held last April. Based on a report on the road safety crisis prepared by the WHO and the UN Road Safety Collaboration, sponsored by more than 90 countries, a new draft resolution entitled, Improving, Global Road Safety had been adopted unanimously by the UN General Assembly on March 31. The resolution underlines the importance of addressing global road safety and encourages the member countries to strengthen commitment.
Accidents do not occur accidentally, but most of the time they result from "our carelessness" or "the carelessness of someone else," he said.
"We have to learn to live with caution," he said.
"It can happen at any time to anyone. Accident is no longer the issue of the ones who get involved in it," said Ban Ki-Moon.
In order to prevent road fatalities, police organisations across the world should implement various enforcement programmes, random breath testing, sobriety checkpoints, random road watch, photo-radar, mixed programmes and red-light cameras, designed to deter deviant driving behaviour, which significantly increase the risks of serious accidents.
The accidents not only create socio-economic expenses for victims and their families, they also place a big burden on the public health services. The annual costs of road traffic injuries worldwide amount to hundreds of billions of dollars and they continue to rise. It is important to reduce the number of traffic injuries in order to achieve socio-economic development and to allow ordinary people to feel safe and secure, when on the roads.
There is a growing recognition that road traffic injuries can be prevented. Because prevention measures require political will and financial investments, decisions to improve road safety need to be made at the highest levels of the government. The people would like the government to be more professional and scientific in its approach to produce road accidents.
Nonetheless, many organisations and governments across the world have chosen to face the challenge. The mindset is changing with regard to road safety. Road accident fatalities are no longer accepted as an inevitable corollary of increased mobility.
Beyond the government ministries of transport, health and education, many others have roles to play. Parents and guardians, educators, community and business leaders, automobile associations, insurers and vehicle manufacturers, celebrities and the media, survivors of road traffic crashes and their families all can and should play their due roles.
It is possible to control the epidemic of road traffic injuries or deaths through strict policy implementation, mass media education, and a national traffic campaign to increase safety on the roads and highways.
The writer is a freelance writer based in New York
The World Health Organization (WHO) says, every year 1.2 million
people die in road accidents worldwide making it, the seventh biggest killer, ahead of diabetes and malaria. The WHO predicted that between 2000 and 2015, road accidents would cause 20 million deaths, 200 million serious injuries. It also predicted that by 2020 road accidents would become the number three killer, behind heart disease and suicide.
Road accidents are increasing on an epidemic scale in many countries. There is a tendency to accept it as an inevitable consequence of ever increasing mobility. Failure to act could double the number of deaths by 2020. The injuries from road accidents would be the third highest contributor to the global burden of the injured. Permanent disability and deaths occur to many of the injured.
Road crashes, causing death, injury, and damage were always there. But a spate in road accidents in Bangladesh now needs to be treated as an outbreak of epidemic, with official death toll of nearly 4,000 a year. Neither the laws nor their enforcement are stringent enough to punish the offenders. The Accident Research Centre the of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), however, estimates the number of casualties at three times the official figure. The accidents are blamed mostly on badly maintained roads, faulty vehicles, inexperienced drivers, and disregard for traffic rules.
According to the police, a total of 3,749 people were killed and 3,273 injured in 4,869 road accidents in Bangladesh last year. About 15,000 people suffered injuries last year and many of them ended up being physically disabled and eventually jobless. In financial terms, the accidents cause a loss worth no less than Tk 50 billion (5,000 crore) annually or about 2.0 per cent of the GDP.
The value placed on human lives is discouraging and outdated. The road accidents cause pain and deaths without the needed help. Many suffer silently out of fear of being accused as the cause of the accident. The problem was compounded by a virtual absence of emergency response system and pre-hospital care for the victims.
The road accidents place an enormous strain on the country's healthcare system and on the national economies, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the occasion of the First UN Global Road Safety Week, held last April. Based on a report on the road safety crisis prepared by the WHO and the UN Road Safety Collaboration, sponsored by more than 90 countries, a new draft resolution entitled, Improving, Global Road Safety had been adopted unanimously by the UN General Assembly on March 31. The resolution underlines the importance of addressing global road safety and encourages the member countries to strengthen commitment.
Accidents do not occur accidentally, but most of the time they result from "our carelessness" or "the carelessness of someone else," he said.
"We have to learn to live with caution," he said.
"It can happen at any time to anyone. Accident is no longer the issue of the ones who get involved in it," said Ban Ki-Moon.
In order to prevent road fatalities, police organisations across the world should implement various enforcement programmes, random breath testing, sobriety checkpoints, random road watch, photo-radar, mixed programmes and red-light cameras, designed to deter deviant driving behaviour, which significantly increase the risks of serious accidents.
The accidents not only create socio-economic expenses for victims and their families, they also place a big burden on the public health services. The annual costs of road traffic injuries worldwide amount to hundreds of billions of dollars and they continue to rise. It is important to reduce the number of traffic injuries in order to achieve socio-economic development and to allow ordinary people to feel safe and secure, when on the roads.
There is a growing recognition that road traffic injuries can be prevented. Because prevention measures require political will and financial investments, decisions to improve road safety need to be made at the highest levels of the government. The people would like the government to be more professional and scientific in its approach to produce road accidents.
Nonetheless, many organisations and governments across the world have chosen to face the challenge. The mindset is changing with regard to road safety. Road accident fatalities are no longer accepted as an inevitable corollary of increased mobility.
Beyond the government ministries of transport, health and education, many others have roles to play. Parents and guardians, educators, community and business leaders, automobile associations, insurers and vehicle manufacturers, celebrities and the media, survivors of road traffic crashes and their families all can and should play their due roles.
It is possible to control the epidemic of road traffic injuries or deaths through strict policy implementation, mass media education, and a national traffic campaign to increase safety on the roads and highways.
The writer is a freelance writer based in New York