Slow lanes and reckless driving
I refer to your article published on 3rd August. Firstly, I express my condolence for the families of the Secretary of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry, the BSCIC chairman, and hundreds of other families who have lost their loved ones in unnecessary tragedies on the roads of Bangladesh.
As a regular traveller, and sometimes driver, on Bangladesh's inter-district roads I want to encourage the government to act with caution and thought before installing slow lanes on highways. I cannot count the number of times my car has been forced onto the side of the road as the only way to avoid a wildly driven bus charging towards us while it overtakes another bus. This is despite my car flashing its headlamps, using its horn and illuminating its hazard warning lights. Careless bus drivers, and occasionally private vehicle drivers, move down the wrong side of the road despite on-coming traffic with an arrogance that those who have not visited Bangladesh could not believe. Any design of slow lanes which prevents private cars from escaping to the side of the road in the face of reckless on-coming vehicles may actually increase road deaths unless these dangerous overtaking practices cease.
When I was a young driver in England I was taught by my father-in-law, a member of the respected Institute of Advanced Motoring, that one should never be on the wrong side of the road in the face of on-coming traffic. To make another driver take avoiding action was a matter of intense shame. I hesitate to recommend the death penalty for drivers found to be on the wrong side of the road when a fatal accident occurs, but perhaps something as drastic as life imprisonment, for the driver and the person employing the driver, may be what it takes to bring discipline to Bangladesh's roads. A few high profile cases may bring some sense to bear.
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