Letters To The Editor
Will we only watch deaths on road?
On the issue of 25th September, in the story covering the mother who died in front of her child, you wrote, “a six-year-old girl had to watch her mother getting crushed under the wheels of a bus.” This is simply not acceptable. It is difficult not to ask oneself why there has not been a larger, immediate outcry to improve the conditions of roads across Bangladesh to prevent these accidents from happening in the first place?
According to WHO, an estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes and nearly 50 million people are injured each year. What is more concerning is that these figures are projected to increase by almost 65% over the next 20 years unless a greater, concerted effort is made to prevent road crashes from happening. Without proper action and advocacy efforts surrounding better maintenance and safety of roads, the problem will only get worse. According to the WHO, approximately 20,000 civilians die on Bangladeshi roads a year. So what will it take? We cannot keep watching our neighbours and friends suffer on our very own roads due to reckless driving. We need to take a stand and ask for improved maintenance of these roads, and be more cognizant drivers. When we are behind the wheel, we are responsible not only for our own life, but also of others on the road.
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