Ensuring safer roads during Eid

Bangladesh has one of the highest road accident and casualty rates globally. According to data from the World Bank, the annual fatality rate from road accidents is 85.6 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles. Hence, the roads in Bangladesh have become deadly. And the situation worsens significantly on the Eid days. According to media reports, at least 17 people have died, and a dozen others have been injured in separate road accidents a day after Eid-ul-Fitr. The accidents occurred in seven districts on Wednesday. Five of the victims died in Rangpur, three in Panchagarh and Madaripur, two in Kushtia and Jhenaidah, and one in Cox’s Bazar and Pabna. Six of them were on motorcycles. Fatalities may increase as people rushes back to the capital after the Eid holidays are over. Every year during the Eid holidays, passengers and transport workers lose their lives in shocking numbers. Any more are maimed for life. Motorcycles have become the most lethal form of transport on the streets and highways of Bangladesh. After each Eid vacation, their front pages are filled with pictures and reports of gruesome road accidents when newspapers resume publication.

Road safety concerns during (and also immediately before and after the holidays begin and end) the Eid holidays are a cause of significant concern. What has worsened the situation is the influx of a huge number of motorbikes and easy-bikes during the last couple of years when the Covid-19 pandemic reigned supreme. Motorbikes, which have proliferated in recent years, were responsible for half of the road casualties last year’s Eid days. This year the situation will not be much different. Many places of the country’s 22 highways are still full of potholes. Dhaka-Gazipur, Dhaka-Chattogram, Dhaka-Aricha, Dhaka-Tangail, Sirajganj-Bogura, and about 700 km of roads and highways are in dilapidated condition. Many holidaymakers have used those rough roads to go homes to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr along with their near and dear ones. Similarly, they will also use the roads during returning to the workplaces.

Road Transports and Bridges affairs Minister Obaidul Quader gave directions to complete the repair work of all the country’s roads before the start of the Eid journey, but it has not been implemented to the desired level. Among the primary reasons for accidents on the roads are unfit vehicles. According to Passengers Welfare Association Bangladesh, there are half a million unfit vehicles threatening road safety currently -- not to mention the recklessness with which most drivers in this country operate vehicles, especially larger ones such as trucks and buses. Our roads and overall communication infrastructure need a revamp.

The traffic police personnel have a crucial role in identifying and holding accountable reckless driving, speeding, and unstable or overloaded vehicles. The maintenance, repair, and expansion of roads coupled with setting up dividers on national highways, cautioning signals for hazardous locations, disseminating information on driving and road safety to masses through media and exemplary punishment for violating traffic laws are some of the main areas that need to be worked on rigorously by the government. The citizens, too, have a role to play in ensuring road safety during the Eid days and the rest of the years. While travelling in public transport, passengers should protest and stop speeding and reckless driving by bus and taxi drivers. Owners of motor vehicles should ensure that employed drivers have genuine licenses, are appropriately trained, and drive responsibly. Road safety education to pedestrians, especially children, within the communities by community leaders is also an excellent way to promote road safety.

The citizens have the right to expect safe roads, especially when the country is looking to take the next leap in its development journey. The authorities concerned must ensure that the people of Bangladesh get to enjoy the Eid holidays and not have to worry about losing their lives. Accidents can and will happen. However, accidents should be the exceptions rather than the rule.