Deaths rising on roads

As the authorities have failed to solve the ages-old perennial problems in the road transport sector, relatively new elements such as uncontrolled three-wheelers and motorcycles worsened the situation further, leading to a rise in crashes and fatalities.

A huge number of unfit vehicles, drivers without a licence, roadside marketplaces and accident-prone road designs have long been in discussion as the major reasons for road accidents, which leave thousands dead every year.

Now the unchecked and unregulated three-wheelers, including locally made nosimons and korimons and battery-run easy bikes, in the past decade and ever-increasing motorbikes in the last six-seven years are linked to a majority of deaths.

They were involved with around 60 percent of the road deaths this year, according to the Road Safety Foundation, which says the number of crashes and deaths also saw rise this year compared to last year.

There have been certain risk factors working behind road crashes over the years, said Prof Hadiuzzaman, director of Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Buet.

"Now relatively new elements including a sharp rise in the number of three-wheelers and motorcycles further complicated the situation," he told The Daily Star yesterday, two days before the National Road Safety Day.

The day will be observed today under the theme "Let's abide by traffic rule, return home safe and sound" when promises made by governments to curb road crashes and restore order remain mostly unfulfilled.

Many sections of the Road Transport Act-2018 -- the main governing law for the sector -- have been left unimplemented, even after four years of its enactment, in the absence of necessary rules and alleged pressure from the transport associations.

BIKES, THREE-WHEELERS ADD TO RISK

At least 5,043 people were killed in 4,225 crashes in the first nine months of this year, while the numbers were 6,284 and 5,371 respectively in entire last year, according to Road Safety Foundation, indicating a rise in both numbers.

Three-wheelers, including those illegal and locally made, and motorcycles were involved in 59.49 percent road deaths this year. Bikes contributed to 37.78 percent deaths and three-wheelers 21.71 percent.

The ARI data shows a gradual rise in bike-related accidents and deaths in the last few years.

At least 1,097 people were killed in 958 bike-related accidents in 2020 while the numbers were 1168 and 1056 respectively last year.

In the first nine months of the year, at least 1,052 people were killed in 908 bike-related accidents, meaning deaths and such crashes saw 21.80 and 20 percent rise.

The number of bikes also saw a gradual and sharp rise since 2015 and experts said it has a direct link with the rise in road accidents.

A total of 3.96 lakh bikes got registered with Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) in the first nine months this year; it was 3.75 lakh in 2021.

A favourable government policy on bikes, a very poor public transport system and traffic congestion, especially in Dhaka, are major reasons behind the boom.

But poor infrastructure, especially a lack of dedicated bike lanes, bikers' tendency to violate traffic rules, many bikers lacking licence and training are reasons behind rising bike crashes, they added.

The situation led the authorities to announce in July this year that no bike would be registered from September 15 unless its owner has a driving licence.

But the authorities were forced to defer the date till December 14 following the demand of the bike manufacturers and importers.

Till May this year, the number of registered bikes and issued licences were 36.50 lakh and 23.50 lakh respectively, which means 13 lakh bikers do not have licences.

The government also failed to execute the ban on three-wheelers on highways and formulate regulatory guidelines and the illegal vehicles continue to cause fatal accidents.

Experts said operations of slow-moving vehicles like locally made three-wheelers with poor safety features, alongside speedy vehicles on highways, often lead to accidents.

These accidents cause relatively more causalities due to the poor structure of these vehicles.

The number of such vehicles started to increase in the early last decade and the authorities had to ban three-wheelers on 22 major highways in August 2015.

Yet these vehicles continue to ply the highways with their number increasing amid the shortage of public transport and they become a major income source for many, especially in suburban and rural areas.

The number could be 30-40 lakh now, according to the sector insiders.

Even Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on several occasions expressed helplessness over curbing such vehicles.

The ARI data also shows the number of road accidents involving three-wheelers tripled last year compared to 2020. There were 312 accidents involving three-wheelers in 2020 and the number rose to 939 last year.

In this situation, the ministry, in June 2019, formed a committee to recommend measures to control the operation of these vehicles and following its recommendation, the ministry prepared a draft regulatory guideline in November last year.

However, the draft is yet to be functional.

Contacted on Wednesday, Mahbub-E-Rabbani, director (road safety) of BRTA, also admitted that most of the accidents are taking place due to the operations of three-wheelers and bikes on highways, often violating rules.

OLD PROBLEMS NOT SOLVED

Prof Hadiuzzaman said it's a known fact that vehicles operating without fitness is a major reason behind road crashes but still thousands of unfit vehicles ply the roads.

A total of 5.42 lakh registered vehicles, which were supposed to go through fitness tests, did not take the mandatory fitness clearance certificates till October 15 this year and they are operating on the roads, allegedly due to poor monitoring by the authorities.

Although many vehicles have fitness certificates, those are not fit actually because there are questions about the quality fitness testing, which is done mostly manually.

Drivers without valid licence and trainings, faulty road design, and illegal markets and structures along the highways are other known reasons behind road crashes, but these problems could not be solved in the last two-three decades, he added.

Saidur Rahman, executive director of Road Safety Foundation, said that in the last few years, especially after the road safety movement in 2018, the authorities have made many promises but their initiatives mostly remained confined to forming committees and giving recommendations.

A "vested quarter" is benefiting from the "anarchy" in the sector, and discipline cannot be brought here unless there is a strong political commitment of the government, he told The Daily Star on Thursday.

BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder said changing the situation is difficult unless everyone plays due roles.

"Everyone has to obey law," he said at a press conference arranged at BRTA headquarters ahead of National Road Safety Day.

Replying to a question, he said they have manpower shortage to enforce the law properly.