Traffic jam
I wish to share my thoughts with you on the problems of traffic jam in Dhaka city. To be honest, the road network in Dhaka is not scientifically designed. Most of the junctions are responsible for heavy traffic jam. It will take a long time and a lot of money to take care of that problem. Meanwhile, we have to make the best use of the roads we have by bringing some small changes and enforcing discipline on the road.
Rickshaw : I have been observing through many reports in all the newspapers that the government is taking measures to get rid of traffic jams in Dhaka city. Lot of intelligent people will offer their ideas and opinions. But I am surprised to note that nobody ever talks anything about the "Rickshaws". In my opinion rickshaws are a real menace on the road. First of all, they occupy an average area occupied by many mechanised vehicles, while carrying only one or two persons, which is a waste and misuse of space. Secondly, the rickshaw pullers care very little to follow any kind of traffic rules and mostly do not even know the rules. Thirdly, being a slow vehicle and because they occupy the whole road in many places, other fast moving vehicles have to follow them at the back wasting costly fuel. In many important areas and spots of Dhaka city the rickshaw comes from the opposite direction in a single way lane, riding on the right side of the road, creating real chaos, endangering the lives of the passengers and creating danger and difficulty for the ongoing flow of traffic. In many spots, this happens in front of the traffic police. Nobody seems to be interested to solve this problem. Instead of having patience when there is a signal or stoppage for any other reason, the rickshaw pullers just keep on pushing through any small opening that they get, which in turn creates a severe knot and all the traffic gets stuck for a long time. Apart from this you can hardly find any car without scratch on the side which is created by the protruding axle rod of the rickshaw. The rickshaw puller does not have to pay for damaging a car because he is poor so they don't care, but the car owner has to spend a fortune to get it fixed. Invariably, in every corner of the roads or lanes the rickshaw pullers park their rickshaw and wait for passengers making it difficult for other vehicles to pass through.
Bus : There should be designated bus stops made in such a way that normal traffic flow is not disrupted and the buses should not stop anywhere else. Tempo/human hauler : These are another group of reckless vehicles on the road. The drivers should go through training.
Car : Most of the car drivers also do not maintain road discipline due to non-enforcement of traffic rules. They keep changing lanes without any signal or reason. They park in no-parking zones. All drivers should go through an orientation course before their licence is renewed.
Pedestrians : In some junctions vehicles wait for a long time to get the green signal, just when the signal is on the pedestrians start crossing the road compelling the vehicles to stop and meanwhile the time passes and the signal gets red again. This happens in many busy road junctions. Traffic police should stop people from crossing the road when the vehicles get green light so that they can pass smoothly.
If the above measures are taken I think the present situation will improve a lot and life in Dhaka will become bearable.
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