Road or death trap?
Photo: STAR
After the deaths of former finance minister Saifur Rahman, athlete Alam Mahbub, cricketer Rana, Shetu, filmmaker Tareque Masud, media personality Mishuk Munier, how many more such names are required to draw the attention of the authorities concerned? The highways across the country have, so to say, turned into a death trap claiming lives of many talented and eminent personalities. The tragic deaths of acclaimed filmmaker Tareque Masud and CEO of ATN News Mishuk Munier on Dhaka-Aricha highway made the list of high-profile deaths in road accident longer. This is not a sheer accident, but virtually a murder for which the government is responsible. Every year over 3,000 passengers die in road accidents, shows official statistics, while NGOs say it is no less than 12,000. No doubt that this rate is the highest in the world. Lack of trained drivers, rash driving and lack of punishment are mainly considered as the causes of accidents. But I strongly believe that absence of dividers on the highways is basically at the root of accidents as almost all the cases vehicles collide head-on with another. The realistic solution is to make all our national highways double-lane with dividers all along. All risky turning points (there are 200 such points, according to BUET) should have indicators and banks maintained at the road bends all over the country. On balance, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) must undertake stern actions to make traveling smooth and risk-free.
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