Road Accidents in City
Intersections most risky
Some busy intersections of Dhaka have been identified as accident hotspots where more than half of the city’s fatal crashes occur every year.
Accidents Research Institute (ARI) of Buet has detected 54 such intersections, many with engineering faults.
Most of them are exposed to jaywalking and uncontrolled movement of vehicles.
In 1998-2008, a total of 1,643 people lost their lives in road accidents on these intersections while 3,250 were killed in rest of the capital, Dhaka Metropolitan Police sources said.
Of the 54, the most accident-prone ones are Jatrabair, Farmgate, Bijay Sarani, Sonargaon-Panthapth-ETV, Topkhana-Purana Paltan, Shahbagh, Shonir Akhra, Staff Road Crossing (Dhaka-Mymensingh road), Kakoli (Mymensingh Road-Kamal Ataturk Avenue), Sayedabad, GPO (Zero Point-Abdul Gani Road) and Shapla Chattar intersections.
On Jatrabari intersection alone, 105 people were killed during the period.
The intersection connects five busy roads allowing heavy traffic. Often pedestrians and drivers look puzzling out which direction other vehicles will go in, the ARI detected.
It recommends introduction of traffic management with provision for a special lane for taking left or right turn.
Another example of dangerous engineering flaw is the Shahbagh intersection where 48 people were killed during the time.
Professor Shamsul Hoque, former director of the institute, said drivers face problem with wrongly placed speed breakers at Shahbagh.
“Usually vehicles halt at the approach to any intersection at flashing red signal and they start moving when lights turn green. They gradually accelerate the speed. But at Shahbagh the exiting vehicles face speed breakers.”
He added, “And the drivers have to hit brakes hard forcing the following vehicles to stop unexpectedly.”
He also said the authorities concerned are discouraged to construct speed breakers but not to put rumble strips.
Rumble strips allow speedy vehicles to reduce speed gradually while speed breakers force vehicle drivers to arrest speed immediately.
ARI sources said it had sent recommendation on the 54 intersections to communication ministry in September 2008.
