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Monsters on the loose

Shah Tazrian Ashrafi
I still remember one morning in 2006 when we escaped death by an inch, as one of those popular "city" buses struck the rickshaw I was in with my mother and sibling.
' Had it rolled its
wheels a little more, I wouldn't have been able to write an op-ed piece today.
I often recount that incident when I reminisce about all the bad things that had happened in the past and which could have led to disastrous outcomes had they been a bit more severe.
On March 19, Abrar Ahmed Chowdhury was brutally killed as a "Suprabhat Poribohon" bus ran over him, that too, on a zebra crossing—something which is bound to keep the passer-by safe. Thus, a bright life was lost at the hands of a law-breaking bus driver.
Next day, a 35-year-old man lost his life to a speeding lorry in Dhaka's Paltan, amid the protests for safer roads which ensued following Abrar's death. Also on the same day, a schoolgirl lost her legs as a lorry hit the rickshaw-van she was in.
In Gaibandha, two schoolgirls were killed in separate road accidents—one by a battery run three-wheeler and another by a truck.
On July 29, 2018, two students were killed when a bus rammed into a bus stop, and it triggered massive outrage. In December of the same year, a promising physician was killed when a speeding bus rammed into the CNG-run-auto-rickshaw she was in.
These are just random incidents I can pick out from my hazy memory. These, like many such incidents, echo how lax our laws regarding unruly driving are
We don't have enough zebra crossings and overbridges in the city. Most of the time one has to cross the roads while constantly being on their guard as vehicles speed by them like mad dogs. It is as though we are waiting for more people to get killed so that an over bridge could bloom in their honour, but not strict laws.
Never strict laws.
It is this poverty that supplies oxygen to the monsters, and enriches them with the
nutrients to pull off such acts on a regular basis.
Those unworthy of becoming drivers, for the sake of filling their stomachs, get into driving even though they don't fully meet the criteria required. Sometimes, under-aged drivers are in charge of the wheels—or buses are seen racing on our streets.
According to an article published on April 18, 2018, bus drivers vie for more passengers so that they can earn more. In an attempt to accomplish this, they often resort to involuntary racing. They don't care about the soaring death tolls. They don't care about the promising lives that perish under their wheels. They don't care about the lost limbs and shattered dreams. Money has almost made them blind and given them thick skins.
The article further states that racing usually ensues because of the targets that are needed to be fulfilled. A certain amount is thought to be a benchmark,
which is set by some of the companies. The drivers have to meet those targets on a regular basis. And of course, the more the income, the merrier.
According to a daily newspaper in our country, there had been 4,580 fatalities from road accidents in 2018, increasing by 7 percent in the year from 2017.
Although we are a developing country, it will mean nothing in the long run if promising lives continue to be lost because of unruly vehicles in such tragic ways. To prevent more tragedies, we need a law which isn't lax and which does not allow monsters to ply on our roads anymore. A law which mocks their unruliness and tames them. A law which keeps our roads safe rather than letting them become make-shift deathbeds.
We cannot uproot poverty in a night, but surely, by implementing stricter laws to maintain discipline, we can keep citizens safe. If there's severe punishment rather than some small fines issued to company
owners, those who drive recklessly will think twice before driving in the same manner again.
At the end of the day, these are just mere words, just another op-ed, bom out from one's observation of the despair hovering above
How many more deaths will there have to be till we see an effective solution instead of just namesake overbridges? How many more deaths must there be before zebra crossings and bus-stops don't have to become blood soaked anymore? How many more deaths till vehicles can carry their passengers safely to their destinations?
These questions will remain unanswered and so will our call for justice. But let's desperately hope that the tide turns. Let's hope that the monsters on the loose will be tamed soon.
Shah Tazrian Ashrafi Is a contributor to SHOUT, The
Dally Star.
Email: tazrianl234@gmail.com.