<i>Fatal accidents</i>
Photo: A.M.Ahad/ driknews
The high rate of fatal accidents in Bangladesh is cause for alarm and is unacceptable. The adoption of Road Safety Strategic Action Plans is a welcome move towards improving road safety. On the other hand, 90 percent of the driving licenses in Dhaka city are fake. Traffic management and law enforcement agencies are most visible in the streets of metropolitan areas. While much of it can be attributed to dereliction on the part of the traffic police, it is also true that vehicle derivers as well as pedestrians contribute in no small measure to road accidents. Most vehicles do not obey traffic signals or wish to be regulated. A vast majority of pedestrians do not like to use over-bridges or under-passes built at a huge cost to ensure their safety. Police may have given up the idea of enforcement. Road accidents are rooted in slack laws and lack of vigilance by the government agencies. Under Bangladesh Penal Code, a driver may be imprisoned for up to seven years for reckless driving that leads to a death. But almost no driver or vehicle owner has faced punishment for such accidents. An effective law is essential for promoting road safety. Bangladesh is ranked as one of the most accident prone countries in the world.
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