Strict enforcement of rules can reduce road accidents

In addition to creating massive mass awareness, strict enforcement of traffic rules has become an urgent need to reduce road accidents, speakers at a discussion said.

They viewed the country experiences over 5,000 road accidents in every year claiming several thousand lives and injuring many others. The total loss of properties in the accidents is estimated over Tk 5,000 crore, which is 2 percent of the country's total GDP.

They were addressing the closing session of a two-day training workshop on "Enhancement of competence and awareness of the professional drivers", jointly organised by the district administration and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) in its conference hall here today.

Around 500 persons comprising government officials, human rights activists, leaders of road transport workers and representatives of transport owners' associations were present at the discussion.

The speakers mentioned that the driver alone isn't responsible for any accident but other reasons like frequent movement of the pedestrians are equally responsible.

They underlined the need for strict enforcement of laws together with collective efforts of all. They observed that road accidents could have been reduced substantially if the authorities concerned discharged their duties properly while issuing driving licenses and fitness certificates.