Don't call transport strikes: Quader
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today urged the transport owners and workers to refrain from calling strikes centering the new transport law.
“I request all to follow the new transport rules and to stay away from calling transport strikes,” the minister said while briefing reporters at his Secretariat office this morning.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. He said, “There is a pressure in implementing the law. It will be implemented despite all the difficulties because it is a law passed by the parliament,” the minister said.
The Road Transport Act-2018 has been enforced yesterday while mobile courts today started their drives against traffic rules violators,” he further said.
The minister came up with request when transport workers of different districts including Kushtia, Khulna and Rajshahi enforced indefinite strike demanding amendment of some sections of the new law.
The government on October 22 announced that the law would be implemented from November 1.
The transport act was approved by the president on October 8 last year. It was passed in parliament on September 19 the same year.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS
On October 22, the Road Transport and Highways Division issued a gazette, stating that the Road Transport Act (RTA) would be effective from November 1. Parliament had passed the RTA in September last year, replacing the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1983.
According to section 105 of the new act, if anybody gets seriously injured or killed in a motor vehicle-related accident, it would be considered an offence under the relevant sections of the Penal Code-1860.
However, no matter what section 304(B) of the Penal Code contains, if anybody causes accident by reckless and negligent driving, and kills or injures someone severely, the person will face a maximum sentence of five years in jail or fine or both, reads section 105 of the RTA.
The offences that fall under section 105 are not bailable.
The maximum punishment under section 302 of the Penal Code is death penalty while it is life imprisonment under section 304(B).
The law also hands hefty fines for violation of traffic rules.
For driving without licence, the maximum penalty is six months in jail or a fine of Tk 25,000 or both. It is same for running unfit vehicles.
The maximum punishment for driving vehicles without registration is six months’ jail sentence or Tk 50,000 in fine or both. The highest punishment for honking banned horns is three months’ jail term or Tk 10,000 fine or both.
The law says the maximum punishment for illegally modifying vehicles’ body parts is three years’ jail sentence or Tk 3,00,000 fine or both.
According to the previous law, the maximum punishment for driving without licence was four months’ jail or Tk 500 fine or both. For driving vehicle without registration, the punishment was 3 months’ jail or Tk 2,000 fine or both (for first time) while for running unfit vehicles the punishment was three months in jail or Tk 2,000 fine or both.
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