A total disregard for human lives

The horrific road crash demonstrated through a picture in this daily on Friday is a rude reminder that nothing has changed as far as road safety is concerned. A container of a lorry fell on an ambulance after the two vehicles collided. The patient, who was being rushed to the hospital was killed on the spot. Just yesterday's death count in road crashes across six districts stands at 13 including a mother and a daughter along with three other women travellers. The total number of deaths in road crashes in the last 644 days is at least 5,671 says a report in Prothom Alo.

This unbelievably high casualty rate despite the road safety movement by school students all over the country highlights the total disregard for traffic rules by vehicle drivers and owners. The government also launched drives to check licenses and other road fitness documents of vehicle drivers but such piecemeal endeavours have brought virtually no change on the roads.

Reckless driving that includes risky overtaking, speeding, unfit vehicles on the road—among the myriads of traffic rule violations—continue unabatedly killing people every day. It is a free for all scenario in which drivers and transport owners can violate rules and face no consequences. It makes travelling one of the riskiest activities in Bangladesh.

The lorry accident occurred because the container was not securely fastened and so plunged into the ambulance. Obviously one of the basic rules of carrying heavy containers was flouted. How many such lorries ply the highways of the country? The answer would be in the thousands.

So what are the authorities waiting for? When will we see stringent enforcement of traffic rules that will mete out adequate punishment and penalties to violators and ensure that vehicles on the road are fit, driven by licensed drivers who are not under the influence and who do not resort to reckless speeding and overtaking or motivated by the number of trips they can take in a day? When will the lives of people matter?