Reckless Driving
Tougher punishment in proposed traffic act
The government will amend the Motor Vehicles Act 1983 this year with a provision for tough punishment to the drivers responsible for road accidents, communications ministry officials said.
The proposed act renamed ‘Road Transport and Traffic Act 2011’ is at the final stage and it will be placed in parliament this year for passage, ministry officials said on Sunday.
As per the existing law, there are different kinds of fines ranging from minimum Tk 200 to maximum Tk 10,000 and a provision for cancelling driving licence for violating traffic rules for more than once.
But the proposed law has doubled the financial penalty.
Moreover, a driver responsible for a road accident will have to suffer maximum three years in jail instead of existing three months.
Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain told daily sun that the proposed act is at the final stage. About 100 people were killed in road accidents across the country in July alone this year. The accidents include the most pathetic one which claimed the lives of at least 44 school students at Mirersarai in Chittagong on July 11.
In most cases, drivers are responsible for road crashes. The recent rise in accidents are attributed to cell-phone use while driving.
Bangladesh is one of the most accident-prone countries as 11 persons are killed and 33 injured daily on average in road accidents as per data of police in 2009.
The actual number of accidents and casualties will be much higher as many incidents went unreported.
Dhaka Transport Coordination Board executive director Dr Salehuddin said they reviewed the existing motor vehicle law enacted around 70 years back. He said some changes were inserted into the law in 1966 and 1983, but those were not enough to make the law time-befitting.
The DTCB executive director hopes that the new law will be a time-befitting one as they are similar to those in India, the UK, Australia, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia.
He also said they have already arranged awareness programme for the drivers.
The draft “Road Transport and Traffic Act” has identified violations of about 260 rules as punishable offences under 24 categories. The offences include over-speeding, over-loading, over-taking, unauthorised parking, wrong turning, taking alcohol, using headphone and cell-phone by drivers.
-With Daily Sun input
