Leguna, designed for accidents?
Human haulers, a short-distance vehicle popularly known as leguna, continue to ply causing casualties, even on highways despite a High Court ban.
Experts also say this human hauler is inherently flawed in terms of structural design and most of them lack fitness.
At least 16 people were killed and 41 injured in 13 accidents involving human haulers, till 13 May, according to BUET's Accident Research Institute (ARI).
ARI research also shows that in 2017, at least 48 people were killed and 81 injured in 39 accidents in which human haulers were involved. However, Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh put the number of such accidents at 276 in 2017.
With a capacity to accommodate 11-14 persons, a human hauler is a converted mini truck with two benches added for passengers. They are mainly meant for short distance routes within the cities and district towns.
According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), there are 2,478 registered human haulers in the capital.
Many commuters in the metropolis are dependent on leguna and its popular routes include Mirpur-1 to Mohakhali, Khilgaon to Gulistan, Mirpur-2 to Farmgate, Shonir Akhra to Nilkhet, and Mohammadpur to Farmgate.
However, many human haulers are seen plying on the highway in different parts of the country, although authorities denied giving them permission.
A Prothom Alo investigation has found that new route permit has been issued by the authorities allowing movement of human haulers on the highway.
And they met with accidents on the highways where buses and trucks are the dominant players.
On 17 May, three persons were killed when a bus hit a human hauler on a Sirajganj highway. The next day (18 May), a human hauler driver was killed when a truck rammed his vehicle in Magura.
The High Court imposed a partial ban on movement of human haulers like locally called Nosimon and Karimon, in 2014 and in 2017 a complete ban on highways.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has an enforcement department whose responsibility is to look after whether vehicles are violating rules. Its director Nur Mohammad Majumder declined to comment.
The organisation’s spokesperson and director of road safety department Sheikh Mahbub E Rabbani told Prothom Alo that human haulers have no route permit for plying on the highways but their enforcement department cannot take any action about vehicles moving outside the capital.
Investigation also found that new routes are being opened for human haulers with route permit for their movement between Mirpur-1 and Savar, part of which route is a highway.
When asked, the BRTA spokesperson, Rabbani, declined to comment and instead referred the matter to BRTA Dhaka division deputy director Masud Alam, who however, could not be reached for comments.
Only last week three persons were killed when a bus crushed a human hauler in Mirpur's Diabari. Part of this route covers Mirpur Beribadh area, which is considered a risky road.
In another part of the city, Shonir Akhra area, a female college student was killed after falling from a human hauler in April.
Human haulers pose high risk of casualties due also to their vulnerable structural design and lack of fitness, said Kazi Md. Shifun Newaz, a researcher of ARI at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
"The human haulers have very low stability and as such when they are hit by bus, they cannot remain stable," he said and pointed out that the steel surrounding this vehicle has made it further risky. "And these are very old vehicles and many of them are simply not fit."
According to ARI research, the tendency of race among leguna the drivers is another cause of high risk of these types of vehicles.
"Most untrained, unskilled and children drive these human haulers," the researcher added.
Read more : Bus-human hauler collision kills 3