Staff Reporter :
Country’s highways have now become deadly causing fatal accidents at different faulty points almost every day where the law enforcement agencies are seen apparently inactive to bring discipline in the transport sector.
Official sources said that road accidents are mainly taking place in a 57-kilometre stretch of nine national highways though several accident-prone spots on these highways have already been expanded along with setting up road dividers.
Not only that, the regional and district highways are also equally risky. And the situation is all the same on the city roads also.
In a recent incident, about 13 people were killed and 10 injured after a truck rammed into a human hauler on the Darshana-Chuadanga highway in Chuadanga’s Damurhuda upazila on March 26. On the day, at least 20 people were killed and over four dozens injured in separate road accidents across the country.
When contacted, Deputy Inspector General [DIG] of Highway Police Atiqul Islam told The New Nation on Wednesday night: “As per our study, the number of accidents has not yet increased. Usually 10 people are killed per day in road accidents on highways and per year the number stands at around 4,000. So, the situation is not alarming at all.”
There is widespread allegation that police are not checking vehicles’ fitness and whether the drivers are having valid driving license. Rather, the highway police are busy with toll collection from drivers keeping the highways vulnerable to accidents.
In this regard, the DIG said: “We’ve stopped checking of driving license for the last three months. Particularly, we check vehicles which are overweighed. Besides, we stop vehicles which break speed limit. So, there is no way to take toll from the drivers or transport owners by the police.”
It is to be noted that a total of 208 spots in roads and highways were identified as ‘accident-prone areas’ in a research jointly conducted by PPRC [power and participation research centre] and BRAC a few years ago.
Some experts, however, have identified 12 reasons for the fatal road crashes. Of them, grabbing of footpaths, overtaking, over-speed, overload, driving vehicles by helper, fault in road construction, mechanical problem of vehicles, passengers’ unawareness, violation of traffic law, absence of zebra crossing and using of cell phones during driving are remarkable. Besides, running of slow and fast moving vehicles simultaneously on highways, driving after taking drugs or alcohol and entrance of vehicle in highway through feeder road have also appeared as important reasons behind the fatal accidents.
Officials said, of the total accidents, 56 per cent has occurred on national and regional highways, 23 per cent in city areas and 21 per cent on feeder roads or in the rural areas…The rate of death in road accidents had reached up to 60 per cent in city and rural areas for grabbing of footpaths and absence of bus-bays.
Against this backdrop, the DIG said: “The number of three wheelers and other light vehicles like votvoti has been reduced on the highways in the recent days.” About 8,642 people died in road accidents in the country last year while 1,305 persons became physically impaired losing their hands, legs or some other vital organs, said Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, Secretary General of the organisation.
Chairman of Nirapod Sarak Chai [NSC] and film actor Elias Kanchon said, the untrained and illiterate drivers, faulty transports, weak traffic management, unawareness of people, uncontrolled speed, choked roads and lack of implementation of existing law are the main reasons of the accidents. Highest number of accidents was caused by the trucks, a NSC report said, adding that excessive speed, reckless driving, carelessness of drivers and conversation on mobile phones are major reasons behind the accidents by the truck drivers.
