Sunday’s bus accident that killed 11 people and injured 25 others in Barishal due to reckless driving is not isolated or different from many other accidents across the country. In 2021 alone, a total of 6,284 people were killed. Survivors of the Sunday’s crash said they repeatedly asked the driver to slow down the vehicle, but he did not listen and kept on driving recklessly. Following the tradition, a probe committee has been formed and we expect the report will never become public. By repeating the cycle — accidents, probe bodies, no remedy — we stay in the same position about road accidents and their remedies.
Horrendously, around 40 per cent of all accidents occurring in 2021 involved motorcycles. At least 2,214 people were killed and 1,309 were injured in these crashes. A total of 2,078 motorcycles were involved in these accidents. Road accidents are continuing to rise in the country due to a number of factors, which include plying of unfit vehicles on the road, reckless driving, lack of skilled drivers, mental and physical illness of drivers, insufficient benefits for drivers, slow vehicular movement on highways, careless bike riding by youths, ineffective traffic management system, and a lack of awareness among people.
In almost every case, we witnessed the law enforcers remain reluctant to go into deep road accidents, while transport owners are shadowed by the blessing of power. We must admit that the government has failed to make the roads safer for all despite many committees, many assurances, much research, and obviously many protests. The youth in 2018 showed us what the state should do? Who is responsible? But nothing teaches the government to enforce the existing laws. We have to say, without any exacerbation or provocation; the entire transportation system must be repaired. Without ensuring a safe journey, no achievement would be counted by the youth as the right to living is the first and foremost right.
