Bangladesh will observe the United Nations Global Road Safety Week this year for the first time aiming to raise awareness about road safety to prevent road accidents.

Student demonstrators yesterday said they would resume their peaceful protest for safe roads on Sunday to keep pressure on the authorities to implement their promises.

In the face of student protests for road safety, transport owners and workers yesterday came up with the same old promises of not operating buses on daily contracts, and scrutinising licences before appointing drivers.

Hours after two college students were killed by a speeding bus in the capital in July last year, Shajahan Khan smirked when reporters sought his reaction as a transport leader.

Hold meetings, make decisions and then forget all about them. This has been the practice of successive governments regarding road safety in the past three decades. Since the mid-80s, each government has undertaken numerous initiatives to reduce road crashes, but they are gathering dust at the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammad Javed Patwary places emphasis on raising public awareness about traffic laws in a bid to ensure safety for commuters on the roads.