Road Kill

The reason behind the head-on collision between a bus and a stone-laden truck on the Dhaka-Bogra highway on Friday is reckless and drowsy driving by both the drivers. It turned out to be fatal killing ten people including the truck driver and injuring twenty. How many lives have to be lost before a genuine attempt is made by the authorities and other stakeholders to curb the number of road crashes that, reportedly, take more than twenty thousand lives on the country's roads annually?

There is no indication that our roads are getting less dangerous. Almost every day the media are awash with reports of people killed in road accidents. While there is no short-term solution to problems such as the poor condition of roads and vehicles and carelessness of pedestrians that contribute to such an astronomical number of deaths, careless and groggy driving can and should be addressed immediately. Drivers of buses and trucks are often dozy simply because their income is based on the number of trips they can make everyday instead of fixed salaries, prompting them to enter an unhealthy and deadly habit of driving as long and as fast as they can.

These statistics, numerically shocking they are, fail to reflect the tragedy related to each life lost. Who is going to take responsibility of their families?  Do owners and operators of public transports realise that letting sleep-deprived and untrained drivers drive is nothing but a recipe for murder?

Unless and until stringent actions are taken against the errant drivers, and owners and operators held to account, precious lives will continue to be lost on the roads.