Home ›› 12 Mar 2023 ›› Nation
Hundreds of lives are lost every year due to road crashes in Sylhet due to various reasons.
According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and Highway Police, the main reasons for these accidents are incompliant drivers, lack of directional signs on the side of the road, uneven and unplanned road construction, defective vehicles, overloading, overtaking, and overspeeding. As the accidents increase, so does the number of casualties.
Various initiatives including litigation and increasing public awareness through campaigns are being taken by the authorities but they are failing to improve the situation.
According to the divisional office of Sylhet Highway Police, 112 road accidents occurred in different places of Sylhet circle in 2022. And 115 people were injured and 123 people were killed in these accidents.
In the last year, 69 cases have been filed for accidents, 29 have been identified as black spots and 21 as dangerous turns. And most of those who died in the accident were between the ages of 20 and 40 and the majority were male.
According to Sylhet BRTA office sources, road accidents are increasing in the district daily. According to a statistic from 2012, there were 39 road accidents in different parts of Sylhet, which reached 112 in 2022. Some 85 people were injured and 65 were killed in this accident. About 11 areas were black-marked as accident-prone.
In 2021, a total of 138 accidents occurred in Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, and Sunamganj in which 155 were killed and 137 more were injured. A total of 24 places were marked as accident-prone black spots.
According to Bangladesh Police, as many as 250 people were killed in 187 accidents in Sylhet in 2020. In the same year, 6,686 people died in road accidents across the country.
There are 280 link roads from Nazirbazar to the Madhavpur part of Dhaka-Sylhet highway. The light vehicles suddenly enter the highway from the roads without obeying any signs or rules, causing various accidents.
According to the drivers who regularly use these roads, accidents occur as the long-haul drivers get tired due to a lack of designated resting areas for them.
Sylhet Divisional Highway Police Sub Inspector Bikul Singh said some of the drivers also disregard the daily driving time limit and work inhumanly long hours in the hope of extra profit.
On the other hand, BRTA officials believe that unskilled drivers and lack of driving licenses are largely responsible for road accidents.
In regards to preventing road accidents, Sylhet BRTA Assistant Director Riaz Ahmad, said, “We conduct regular drives to check vehicle health and license validity. Defective and illegal vehicles are impounded and the drivers are fined through an executive magistrate.”
Meanwhile, according to autorickshaw drivers of the locale, many of them turn to drugs due to a lack of entertainment opportunities. Accidents occur as a result of driving while intoxicated and inattentive.
An autorickshaw driver named Hadis said, “The authorities should provide us with some facilities for entertainment. If we had a monthly or weekly based salary and could take a day off of work, that would also be beneficial.”
Falik Miah, former president of Sylhet Bus Owners Association said there are various reasons behind road accidents and a single person should not be blamed.
“Awareness should be raised about not talking on mobile phones while crossing the road and driving. Regardless of whether it is a highway or a rural road, unplanned constructions are also one of the reasons for road accidents,” he added.
Previously a truck driver, Abdur Rahman told The Business Post that he used to drive for over 36 hours straight with minimal food breaks and no sleep.
“Now that I have become old, I take shorter trips. However, able-bodied young drivers still work long hours. If our wages were monthly, we would not have to take such risks to make extra money,” he added.
Soheda Begum, a victim of a road accident that occurred in 2016, said, “I lost my husband and two more family members when our autorickshaw collided head-on with a truck near Biyanibazar. Two other members of my family were permanently crippled.”
She added that a case was filed concerning the accident, however, neither the accused truck driver nor anyone else was arrested. “There has been no progress in the case. We have to live knowing that the killer is still out there without receiving any punishment.
Additional Superintendent of Police of Sylhet Selim Miah said, “The police are always sincere in serving the people. I would not say that there is no progress in the cases regarding traffic accidents.”
Superintendent of Highway Police (Sylhet Region) Shahid Ullah said, “Most sections of the Sylhet-Dhaka Highway do not have road markings. Moreover, speed breakers are scattered in various places on this highway despite not having provision for any. Also, police are failing to keep auto-rickshaws out of the highway even with regular fines.”
In regard to drivers often driving without rest, he said, the driver who drives to Dhaka from Sylhet also returns to Sylhet without a break. “Many drivers are falling asleep behind the wheel because they do not rest.”
