Editorial
Reckless driving and death on the road
Must bad drivers always get away with their crimes?
THERE does not seem to be any seriousness on the part of the traffic authorities about curbing road accidents. Of course, accidents happen everywhere around the world. But the general rule is that measures are always in place to handle such situations, meaning that corrective steps are taken to prevent a recurrence of mishaps on roads and highways. Unfortunately in Bangladesh, such steps are conspicuous by their absence. A sign of that comes through the sight of road accidents taking place on a daily basis not just in Dhaka but in other parts of the country as well. The latest in this long litany of tragic road tales is the death of a pedestrian near Eden College on Thursday. Hit by a speeding bus, he was dragged around by the vehicle for a hundred yards as his shirt got entangled with the bumper before the driver stopped the vehicle and simply ran off. On the same day, a student was killed when a speeding truck ran over him in Narail. Earlier last week, seven persons died in road accidents in the capital. Even on-duty policemen have been killed by speeding vehicles.
It is a matter of shame that little, if any, action is taken against the drivers of these vehicles. In most instances, the drivers leave the vehicles and simply flee the scene. A good number of these drivers happen to be raw in experience or in some cases may even be drivers' helpers trying their hand at navigating the roads. Just how risky lives become in the hands of these drivers can be seen in the reckless manner in which they have their vehicles use the roads. It does not occur to them that there are certain rules of the road to be followed.
But, then again, it is often the police who look the other way when these drivers flout the rules. There is too the suspicion that these drivers, being on good terms with traffic policemen, know how to get out of bad situations. Be that as it may, of late the traffic authorities have been slapping fines on drivers of cars on the charge that they change lanes in risky manner. However, we are yet to hear of such punitive action being taken against bus and truck drivers. The point here is that if traffic rules are applied equally to all and in relentless measure, the possibility of road accidents being minimized becomes that much greater. Who will ensure such steps being taken?
Death is always cause for sadness. But when people die on the road only because some rash drivers are ignorant about the rules of driving, it turns into unmitigated tragedy. We urge the authorities to move severely and purposefully into action against not only bad drivers but also against the dilapidated vehicles they are often in control of.
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