To prevent road accidents, enforcement of laws and awareness is essencial

The expectation of safe roads is a citizen's right. Various initiatives are being implemented both by the government and non-governmental organizations to fulfill this expectation. However, despite these efforts, unexpected accidents continue to occur in the country. Lives are being lost every day and life has become miserable for those who survive the accident. Therefore, ensuring safe roads in the country is necessary to reduce road accidents. Alongside this, there is no alternative to public awareness and effective enforcement of existing laws.

The country's transportation sector was regulated for a long time through the Bengal Motor Vehicles Act of 1939 and the Motor Vehicle Ordinance of 1983. A significant student movement advocating for safer roads nationwide took place in 2018. As a result, on September 20, 2019, the Road Transport Act was passed in the National Parliament to ensure road safety, accident prevention, and discipline on the roads. The general public highly praised this law. However, due to extreme opposition from transport owner associations and labor unions, even after four years, the law has not been fully implemented. The rules of the law have not been formulated, and the promise of safe roads remains unfulfilled. Due to the lack of enforcement of the law, road accidents are not decreasing, and roads are not becoming safer. Therefore, we must say that the Road Transport Act 2019 should be implemented as quickly as possible to prevent road accidents, and the directives of the United Nations should be followed to reduce accidents on the roads.

Experts believe that the responsibility for ensuring road safety lies with the government. It is not the duty of any social organization or NGO. Ensuring safe roads is the responsibility of the government alone. If accidents decrease, the government's promise of safe roads would be somewhat fulfilled. Without that, employers are not fulfilling their responsibilities towards workers. They do not provide skilled drivers; they put vehicles on the road without proper fitness. They are also responsible when accidents occur on the roads. They do not hire skilled drivers; they operate vehicles without fitness. Therefore, all of these need to be addressed through laws.

According to a report published in a newspaper today, Saturday (6th) April, six people were killed in a collision between a truck and a train on the Dhaka-Chittagong railway at Feni's Fazilpur. Four of them were sitting on the engine of the train, while the remaining one was the driver of the truck. In another incident, a husband and wife lost their lives in a road accident while returning home on a bike during the
Eid holiday in Haluaghat, Mymensingh. Additionally, in four separate road accidents in four districts, four more people have been killed.

Research indicates that nearly 84% of accidents on the country's highways occur due to reckless driving. Therefore, it is necessary to control the speed of vehicles on highways. In 2021, the economic cost of road accidents, in terms of human casualties, amounted to Tk 9,631 crore, which is 3% of the GDP.

In June 2017, the government declared October 22 as Safe Road Day. The theme for this year's Road Safety Day is “Aain mene Sadak choli, nirapode ghore Phiri.” ('Follow the Law on the Road, Return Home Safely'). The United Nations had declared the decade from 2011 to 2021 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety. While member countries have succeeded in reducing road accidents by half, Bangladesh has not been able to achieve that.

In order to ensure safer roads, the country requires more skilled and trained drivers. Alongside promoting public awareness, we must also foster a culture of adhering to traffic laws. "The Road Transport Act must be implemented without yielding to any vested interests. Embracing the provisions of the law is crucial for this objective. It is imperative to deliberate on this matter at the policymaking level without delay.