Authorities have launched a drive yet again to curb jaywalking in capital Dhaka. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) began the three-day special drive from today in an attempt to bring discipline among jaywalkers.

The movement for safer roads launched by students seems to have gone to waste and we are back to our old lawbreaking ways. Whilst the authorities are conducting Traffic week with more fervour than usual raking in thousands of cases against errant vehicles, we see very few efforts being taken to dissuade jaywalking.

A picture published by The Daily Star on Thursday tells the all-too-familiar tale of jaywalking as reckless pedestrians cross the streets near a city intersection, apparently oblivious to the presence of a footbridge just a few steps away.

In a country where corrupt practices dominate traffic rules and laws, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has prepared a draft law under which police would not require any warrant to arrest anyone for violation of traffic rules. Police lodge around 70,000 cases a month and there is a huge backlog of cases. Will this new law, if passed, help the situation?

The Daily Star has found out in a research that 50 percent of train accidents are because of unaware jaywalkers.

Why do pedestrians jaywalk across the road when there is a foot-over bridge nearby? The Daily Star has caught random jaywalkers and got surprising answers. Many of them think that it actually saves time!

The Daily Star finds that jaywalkers account for 40% of all reported road accident deaths in Dhaka.