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Minimizing road accidents: a constant endeavor

ashraful@thedailystar.net
IN Bangladesh, the citizens of Bangladesh constitutionally enjoy the protection of law, the meaning of which includes, but not limited to, no action detrimental to their life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law. Moreover, it has been ensured in Article 32 of the Constitution that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty save in accordance with law. However, the real world is quite different for the citizens of Bangladesh. Among many other causes road accidents vis-a-vis failure to ensure road safety are contributing in deprivation of life without in accordance with law. It must be noted the relationship between road safety and right to life under Article 32 is not farfetched since World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007 recognised in a policy briefing on ’Youth and Road Safety in Europe' that “A failure to safeguard the roads compromises their fundamental right to safety”.
Recently, two persons died in two separate road accidents in Dhaka, both students, one of Notre Dame College and another of Dhaka Commerce College, and these incidents have infuriated the inhabitants of Dhaka. On both occasions questions like why these accidents happen and who is responsible for both the accidents were raised and within days people also forgot all about these accidents and most surprisingly also the questions, as if, the accidental demise of these two bright students have never taken place; as if, nobody cares much about finding the answers of these questions. We know even this article will not be able to create more than a ripple into the senses of the reader. In spite of that we will keep trying to find the answers of those questions and point our fingers to that authority of the Government who is bound by law to ensure road safety and to ensure that every single user of the road, may it be a pedestrian or a driver, is aware of the means and ways to protect themselves from road accidents and to respect the life of other road users.
If we go into the deeper picture first we
will see that high rate of fatal accidents in Bangladesh is alarming and hence undesirable. According to police statistics, road accidents in Bangladesh claim, on average 4,000 lives and injure another 5,000 a year. Actual estimated road fatalities each year about 10,000 to 12,000 which is at least 50 times higher than the rates in Western Europe and North America. In current prices, road accident in Bangladesh is costing community at least Tk. 5,000 crore per annum. Not only on the highways, but also urban accidents cause fatal injuries sometimes resulting into ’negligent’ loss of lives.
Now let’s have a look into the main factors which contribute accidents. These include road user errors, adverse road conditions or environment, vehicle defects. If we be more specific on the causes leading to road accidents are- unskilled/unqualified drivers, reckless driving, crossing the speed limit, overloading, vehicular defects, lack of knowledge and consciousness of road users, hazardous roads, poor implementation of traffic rules, alcoholic driving, poor utilization of safety measures like seat belts and helmets, pedestrians using road instead of footpath/over bridge, improper road design, insufficient road safety measures etc.
At this above mentioned outset, we need to review the steps that are or will be taken by the Government of Bangladesh. The Government has set a 'road safety target' according to which the Government is planning to reduce nearly 50% road accident fatalities within 2020 and nearly 30% reduction of the frequency of road accidents in whole of Bangladesh. It is working towards achieving of 15-20% reduction in the annual number of road accident fatalities by the end of 2013. According to the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), road safety target for achieving 50% reduction in Road Traffic Accident (RTA) fatalities by 2020 will be achieved if the actions, that have been assigned for various sector or organizations by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) of the Ministry of Communications which was prescribed in
the 6th National Road Safely Strategic Action Plan (2011-2012) for the prevention of road traffic accidents, are fulfilled. These actions include:
• to set a goal towards achieving of a 5% reduction in the annual number of RTA fatalities by 2020;
• Approval of the strategic action plan by the National Road Safety Council;
• National Highways are recommended to be the principal target of road safety initiatives of GOB as 45% of all fatal accidents occurring on national highways; and
• RHD field division identified accident prone black spots on highways and already took measures for design correction.
Question is who is supposed to perform all these actions? Answer is BRTA. As the major stakeholder, BRTA performs the biggest role as their responsibility includes registration of motor vehicles (Chapter IV of the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1983), issuance of fitness certificate of motor vehicles (Section 47), route permit for transport vehicles (Chapter V), motor driving licenses (Chapter II), motor driving instructor licenses, registration of motor driving training schools, inspection of motor vehicles involved in road accidents etc. Another stakeholder, Traffic Department, is responsible to ensure traffic rules are being adhered to, drivers possess genuine driving license, vehicle registration documents, fitness and tax certificate, insurance papers etc. while driving and so on. The owners and drivers are responsible for complying with the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1983.
Do they perform all these responsibilities? Answer is a NO. Road safety improvement efforts in Bangladesh suffer from several drawbacks, i.e., lack of a strong professional safety agency with adequate executive powers and responsibilities; fragmentation of responsibilities between agencies and insufficient inter-agency coordination; low level of staffing and lack of professional capacity; lack of trained traffic police for effective enforcement of traffic regulations; and too few resources directed towards tackling the safety problem etc. In addition, recent news, like - mass corruption while issuing driving license or giving fitness certificate also intensifies the situation. All these drawbacks reflects that the BRTA is hardly playing any role in fulfilling the actions mentioned above, which means
they are violating fundamental rights like Articles 31 and 32 of the Constitution. Addressing the road safety problems emerges a serious challenge in the absence of adequate transport safety professionals and resources. Intensified efforts are needed to bring about changes in the attitudes of drivers and other users towards safe operations.
Improvement of road safety is a multidisciplinary task and does not occur by itself. Road accidents are problems that cover many sectors (social, health and economic), which can only be handled efficiently if the Government takes a leading role and responsibility with due commitment. We agree we have road environmental deficiencies, we have inadequacy in police inspection and safety, we are lacking in systematic understanding and investigation of the accident problems etc. Still, going forward, we need to consider road safety, first, as a fundamental right, then a policy priority since 'it is an emerging global public health priority’. Issues like -seeking solutions of accident problems through correct procedures, standards, safety conscious planning and design and good practices, improving the roadway system, educating people on road safety, traffic law enforcement and above all reducing corruption in BRTA are critical components in reducing road accidents. Otherwise BRTA, as a part of the Government, will fail to ensure the fundamental rights, e.g., right to life, which has been engraved in the Constitution of Bangladesh and thus the State itself will fall short in ensuring the fundamental rights to its citizens, which is not desirable by any of us. We will conclude by quoting Mr. Ban Ki-Moon from his statement on the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 2020, “...each of us has a role to play in preventing deaths and injuries on the road. We can save human lives ... Let us all work together to make sure the world's roads are safe”.
Barrister Tapas K. Baul Advocate Sultan Mahmud Ripon They are practicing Law at Dhaka Judge Court.