Staff Reporter :
In another incident of reckless driving, a speedy bus smashed the left leg of another bus driver in the city’s busy Jatrabari intersection while the victim was crossing the road on Tuesday night.
The injured Ismail Hossain, 47, a driver of ‘Anabil Paribahan’ was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment. The incident took place when a bus of ‘Raida Paribahan’ ran over the victim when he was crossing the road, said Bacchu Mia, sub-inspector of DMCH police camp.
The thigh of Ismail’s left leg got smashed. Besides, his testicles were also injured, police said.
Ismail met the tragic incident while returning to his home at Bhuigarh in Narayanganj after finishing his duty.
This is just a continuation of series of road accidents following reckless driving in the city and elsewhere in the country recently.
Only in April, reckless driving claimed life of Government Titumir College student Rajib Hossain, crippled a mother of two Ayesha Khatun, smashed the right leg of University of Development Alternative MBA student Runi Akhter and damaged the right leg of household worker Rozina Akhter.
In the same month, eight-year-old Shumi Khatun lost her left forearm when a truck hit her in Bogra and transport worker Khaled Hasan Ridoy lost his right arm after a bus was hit by a truck in Gopalganj.
According to a report by Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, at least 2,123 people were killed and 5,558 injured in 1,871 road accidents in last four months across the country, which is higher than the same period of last year.
According to a World Health Organization report (WHO), as many as 20,000 people die in road crashes in Bangladesh every year, one of the highest in the world.
No statistics is enough to reflect the true scale of misery an accident leaves for the victim’s family. The loss is impossible to compensate. Though most of these tragic incidents are forgotten by us in course of time; only the victim and the family bear the intolerable agony for the rest of their life, observers said.
Problems related to road accidents in Bangladesh is multi-layered and complex. It ranges from the role of transport authority and law enforcers, skills of the drivers, transparency in giving license, implication of law and punishment for violating laws, and the awareness of the commuters.
However, reckless driving is one of the leading causes of road accidents in Bangladesh. In fact, most of the accidents in our roads occur due to hasty and irresponsible driving by unskilled drivers. And it is alarming that the rate resulting in deaths and injuries has been increasing every year, experts of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) pointed out.
Driving without a license has been reported to be a common practice in our country due to lack of enforcement of traffic laws and impunity enjoyed by drivers. Another apparent reason is granting driving licenses illegally or without following the exact course of action.
But how many drivers have been punished for reckless driving and killing innocent people as of now? Has anyone ever been arrested for operating a vehicle-private or commercial-without a valid license? How many families of victims have been compensated?
There is no evidence of proper punishment or stern actions taken against all these anarchy of transport sector. Moreover, we have experienced indulging comments from concerned persons regarding the incidents.
Seeking anonymity, one of the victims from city’s Mohammadpur area whose car was hit by a bus near Hajrat Shahjalal Airport told BBC Bangla that he had to negotiate with the driver with a small amount of money as compensation. He said it is not possible for an individual to carry on legal fight with the strong influence of the transport sector.
Government has shown their capacity to eradicate terrorism in recent past. At present government is showing zero tolerance against drug. If government considers road accidents with similar significance instead of paying heed to the interest of a specific sector, there must be way out of these epidemic disasters.
