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INFLUENTIALS on the WRONG SIDE

Job, not law, comes first for traffic men

Shariful Islam
Traffic police and even a minister appear helpless in preventing government high-ups from driving on the wrong side of Dhaka streets, making top government officials untouchable by traffic laws.
Traffic policemen on the ground continue to overlook vehicles taking the wrong side of roads saying the rules violators are influential people and they may face serious repercussions if they penalise them.
State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Kamal said ministers' vehicles sometimes take to the wrong side of roads to attend emergency meetings. Besides, emergency vehicles like police, fire brigade and ambulance were allowed to use the wrong side to avoid traffic.
Taking this opportunity, other vehicles also drive on the wrong side and police were taking action, he claimed.
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"I will instruct police to take measures if any other vehicles drive on the wrong side of roads," he said, making it apparently clear that there was nothing he could do about the VIPs.
His comments come after The Daily Star ran a report on September 2 on how extensive this rule flouting has become.
A high-ranking police official requesting anonymity said they allow vehicles of VIP's, like ministers, to take the wrong side of streets.
A traffic inspector went on to add that the officers on the ground fear
losing their jobs if they dared to stop the vehicle of a minister on the wrong side of the road.
The police had installed retractable spike strips on Hare Road in the capital in April as part of a trial to see if such devices work in preventing vehicles from taking the wrong side of the street and risk head-on collisions.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), however, had to remove the device two weeks later following directives from the government high ups.
The directive came after several ministers raised objections about the device in a cabinet meeting. The
wheels of a prominent minister's SUV had gotten slashed when it went over the strip going against the traffic.
The spike strip the DMP used was made of stainless steel and cost around Tk 4.5 lakh and it had its own issues.
Just an hour after its inauguration, the device malfunctioned leading to several vehicles getting their tyres shredded as vehicles' frequency and weight were not considered while picking the type of spikes.
Police said now the device has been rebuilt with the help of engineers of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. The spikes will be a
bit smaller and load sustaining.
“We can install it if the government high-ups asked us," a top traffic police told The Daily Star.
While people stay stuck in the city's standstill traffic for hours sometimes, some, mostly flag-bearing vehicles of ministers, lawmakers and top government officials, and even police, and media people and bikers, dangerously drive on the wrong side of roads to dodge the tailback.
"When people see them flouting the rules, they follow those vehicles," said a number of traffic police officials. They demanded that the govern-
ment high-ups issue an instruction asking ministers, lawmakers and top government officials not to violate the rule.
Joint Commissioner (Traffic) of DMP Mosleh Uddin said, "We have been taking action against vehicles of law enforcers and others taking the wrong side of roads.” He said every month traffic police have been filing 1,800 to 2,000 cases against rules violators including those driving on the wrong side.
"We have already given instruction to the police not to drive on the wrong side of roads unless on emergency
duty," he said.
He observed that it was not possible to stop the menace only through enforcing rules.
Earlier, Bangladesh Army regretted that its vehicles drove on the wrong side of a road in the capital following the story run by The Daily Star on September 2 titled "People obey law, influentials break: People suffer in tailbacks, they don't".
The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a press release the following day said the Army Headquarters would take appropriate steps against such malpractices.