Total disregard for safety

A picture carried on the front page of this newspaper on September 21 shows a toddler-carrying parent nonchalantly crossing the median that runs between opposing lanes on Pragati Sarani. It illustrates how little we value our lives and the lives of those dependent on us. That there is an elevated pedestrian crossing not 100 yards away from where the father was crossing the road with his child goes to show that it is the pedestrian's propensity to break traffic laws and callous disregard for public safety that is, to a great extent, to blame for many of the road accidents on our roads and highways. What exactly possesses a parent to risk the safety of a child when he cannot be bothered to walk to a nearby foot-over bridge and cross the road in safety? This is a common practice on the streets of the capital indulged in with impunity. 

People cross busy highways where there is less traffic congestion and buses and cars travel at higher speeds than in gridlocked Dhaka. It appears that people are of the opinion that it is their God given right to suddenly cross the road whenever they feel like it, and that their safety must be guaranteed by drivers of vehicles on the road. Such behaviour is criminal because he is endangering the lives of others.

It really is up to us to take the trouble and pain to use designated crossing places and bridges that are there for ours as well as the safety of motor vehicles plying the roads. Jaywalkers must face severe penalty and only then is there any possibility of this mindset changing for the better.