Editorial
The terrible accident
Yet another indictment on plummeting highway safety
This time it has taken the lives of nine police personnel on duty, with one more fighting for his life in the hospital. We condole the deaths and express our heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families which may have lost their only earning members.
The van they were traveling on was rammed head-on by an onrushing truck. It was a massive collision going by the picture that appeared in the media, and the vehicle was damaged beyond recognition. It is hard to believe that such a collision could take place in broad daylight and with such damaging consequences. And this is what begs the question. Why do highway accidents continue to occur in such abominable regularity?
Why did this accident happen; could this have been avoided? It is ironic that in this instance the unfortunate victims of hazardous highways are those that are supposed to ensure the safety of the highways for the public. It could have been that the truck was over speeding, or that it was being driven by a novice, and perhaps too without a license, and if there was a license it, in all probability, was fake. There could have been a mechanical defect of the truck. A whole raft of things might have gone wrong and which, we feel, could have been prevented had timely oversight been exercised at various stages. It needs to be pointed out too that the intemperate behaviour of the drivers on the roads is due mostly to the lax supervision of the policemen.
It needs repeating that most of our highways are veritable death traps, with accidents waiting to happen. It is not surprising that accidents take place given the conditions of the highways. Their shoulders are often encroached upon at places exposing these to precarious driving, that too done by incompetent hands at the wheels, not to speak of the jalopies plying, often with fake licenses.
This is perhaps the umpteenth time that we have been constrained to comment on road accidents in Bangladesh. Regrettably, nothing palpable seems to be getting done in this regard. On the contrary, accidents like these continue to occur. And we shall continue to inveigh against the authorities' lack of action till such time the situation is reversed, and the roads made safer for the commuters.
We have hardly come across instances where errant drivers have been persecuted and punished. We hear of probe committees but never of the reports submitted. We hear of lack of resources of the police but nothing of what is being done to make up the shortcomings. Highway petrol police is hardly operational. We demand quick and substantive action on the part of the government to raise the standards of road travel safety.
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