Editorial
Wayward buses
Why don't law enforcers get tough on them?
THE front-page photograph of a taxicab crushed between two passenger buses that appeared in this daily on Saturday speaks a thousand words of the horrendous situation prevailing on the roads. The accident occurred when a reckless bus driver hit the taxicab from behind and pushed it under another bus. The accident could have resulted in deaths of the passengers, since such vehicles are run on compressed natural gas, but fortunately people inside and the cab driver only suffered injuries in the process.
Incidence of deaths and serious injuries in road accidents is rising alarmingly in the cities, towns and highways, because of inexperienced drivers, faulty vehicles and lack of implementation of traffic laws and regulations by the authorities concerned. In the absence of strict supervision and monitoring on a regular basis, buses on city roads and inter-district highways pay no heed to speed-limit signs displayed at various points. The tendency to overtake one another on the roads is another factor that often leads to fatal accidents. And what compounds the situation is the fact that often killer drivers flee the scene by bribing the police constables on duty; and those who get caught and are sent to the court manage to get out on bail serving short terms.
The country's media, including The Daily Star, have always been vocal about the wayward buses and trucks and all sorts of vehicles that run without valid papers and fitness certificates. We have been told by the government that there are thousands of unfit vehicles running on the roads but we have not heard as yet if a single one of them has been taken off. Mere dishing out of facts and figures will not improve the chaos that exists on the roads at the moment.
To be candid, the government must bring discipline back on the roads if it wants the cities and towns and highways to remain functional. The capital city is already on its way to becoming dysfunctional as far as traffic management is concerned. We believe people in charge are aware of the grim fact that the number of vehicles in the capital and other district towns is rising defying all rhyme and reason. Therefore, quick implementation of a pragmatic strategy will be able to bail us out of the predicament.
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