A news item in The New Nation on Friday reported yet another tragic road accident at Faridpur on Dhaka-Barisal highway on the previous night that left at least 25 persons killed and 23 others injured. It occurred when a passenger bus crashed on a roadside tree. The Barisal-bound bus from Dhaka was running in high speed at midnight and was reportedly trying to overtake another bus when the accident occurred. Some other accounts said a truck was coming from the opposite direction and when the driver tried to overtake the other bus while giving pass to the truck; it instantly met with the accident.We are appalled to say by the fatalities from yet another bus accident while we don’t see any credible government steps on roads and highways to reduce the rising number of accidents. Road accidents are regular killers, which have already taken 41 lives from April 1, leaving another 71 seriously injured. The death tolls from road accidents last year stood at 8589 and the number of injured 17,500. We have published many editorials in the past asking the government and its concerned agencies to enforce stringent compliance measures of driving codes by bus drivers and drivers of other transport vehicles specially at night time. Had it been heard, we must say the number of accidents would have come down, if not altogether stopped. Meanwhile, our roads and highways remained unabated death traps to people like in the past and there is no indication that the danger may be effectively scaled down in foreseeable future.The highway police must strengthen monitoring and mobile courts’ watch on drivers compliance of driving codes must be enhanced as a way out to reducing the accidents. And on top of it, we believe drivers training and awareness about the dangers that may befall on his life and on the life of passengers from a slight driving time mistake must be high on their skill development agenda to reduce the risks of accidents. The department of road and highways and transport workers union may pursue the scheme with seriousness. It is clear that the concerned ministry is doing not enough for making highways any safer. The allegations are not new that driving licenses are issued without being sure about their ability and carefulness to drive safely.The minister has to be accountable for so many deaths for callous driving of public transport. What is very disturbing is that government has a very irresponsible tendency not to take deaths in road and river accidents or from police shooting of people seriously. The ministers use all the state facilities for their own safety forgetting that money for these facilities come from the people.
