Increasing Road Accidents
Unskilled drivers, faulty road design major reasons
Human errors mostly by unskilled drivers and faulty designs of roads are the two big reasons for growing number of road accidents, transport and communications experts say.
Poor maintenance of overused vehicles, inadequate road safety measures and lack of awareness among drivers and pedestrians are also to blame for the recent accidents, they add.
According to the Accident Monitoring Cell of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), a total of 2,958 people were killed in 3,381 accidents last year across the country. Of them, at least 324 people got killed in 552 accidents in Dhaka.
Three in every four of those killed are pedestrians, the report says, adding, motorbike riders are the second most vulnerable.
Ninety percent of these accidents involved buses and minibuses, according to police.
Professor Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, director of Accident Research Institute (ARI) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), says the already chaotic environment on roads gets even messier due to the heavy presence of the people all over.
“This increases the degree of exposure to road accidents.”
High concentration of industries, especially garment factories by main roads at the heart of the capital and other large cities, is a key reason why pedestrians are more vulnerable.
Thousands of workers cross the busy roads during rush hour every day, he observed. In Dhaka, 60 percent road users are pedestrians whose needs are ignored in urban planning and designing of streets.
Engineering flaws in designing the roads, however, are to blame for most mishaps.
Referring to the recent deaths of two top government officials — secretary Razia Begum and BSCIC chairman Md Siddiqur Rahman, he said, “Clearly, this accident was the result of faulty design of the road.”
The accident spot at Utholi on Dhaka-Paturia highway appears to be a straight road from a distance although it is an intersection, he explained. The cautionary sign installed at the crossing says nothing about intersection; it only says ‘curve’.
In addition, the sign is invisible to drivers due to billboards and trees along the road.
“This type of engineering blunder can be found all across the country. More investment on road safety is required to overcome these slip-ups,” continued Prof Hoque who investigated the Utholi road crash.
He also identifies integration of fast and slow traffic on highways and urban roads without proper lane system as a major cause of accidents.
“Aggressive business method” practised by private bus owners heightens the risk further, he opined.
The root cause behind this “unhealthy” competition is that many private bus owners are dependent on bank loans. They manage their business with minimum number of vehicles as well as drivers. In order to pay back the loan while trying to maximise their profit, they always compete with each other.
According to him, this covetous business policy disregarding traffic rules is liable for many accidents.
Citing findings of a study conducted by ARI on 500 drivers, the professor said almost cent percent drivers are compelled to take the wheel at least three days in a row without proper rest.
“Then there is desperate effort to recover time lost in unwanted incidents, and let’s face it there’s always something, for instance traffic jam, political programmes [blocking the road], clashes etc,” he says as for the reasons of human errors on the part of overstressed drivers.
BRTA Chairman Ayubur Rahman Khan agrees with him: “Imagine what happens when drivers without proper knowledge of driving and traffic rules, often underaged or overworked, are randomly speeding and overtaking with overloaded vehicles on highways that have many engineering flaws”
He terms it a perfect condition for disaster, which turns deadlier with lack of policing.
Md Shafiqur Rahman, joint commissioner (traffic), says total disregard for traffic laws and norms by both drivers and pedestrians results in a lot of accidents.
“May be it’s the result of lack of awareness and illiteracy, but it’s really difficult when everyone disobeys every single rule,” he said.
He also observes that the current law is too weak to punish the offenders.
“Under the current law, punishment of road accidents or fine for violating traffic rules is too little…. There’s no provision to punish bus owners who employ drivers with fake driving licences or operate unfit vehicles,” he noted.
