Road safety awareness missing despite recent movement: PM Hasina

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday regretted ‘peculiar mindset’ of the people to cross roads full of speedy vehicles.

She told parliament that awareness about road safety is yet to be created among the people even after the recent student demonstration over the issue, UNB reports from the Sangsad Bhaban.

"There had been such a big accident (Airport Road crash) and a movement! Even then, we see no awareness among people. They're crossing roads chaotically," she said replying to a supplementary question from Noor-E-Hasna Lily Chowdhury (women seat-44).

The prime minister made the observation in reference to killing of two students on the Airport Road in late July and the subsequent student demonstration demanding safe road and justice to the killing caused by reckless driving.

Sheikh Hasina said the country's people have a peculiar mindset as they start crossing roads before speedy vehicles just raising their hands though a running bus cannot stop abruptly all the time.

Criticising jaywalkers, she said even parents along with their minor children cross roads before many moving vehicles.

"Although a footbridge or an underpass is nearby, young pedestrians don't want to use these. They cross the roads running before speedy buses, which causes accident."

Passersby do not want to wait even for a minute before crossing the road or do not use footbridges or underpasses, the prime minister said, adding that it needs to consider how much fault is on the part of pedestrians and how much on a driver in case of an accident.

Sheikh Hasina said if any accident takes place, the people tend to beat the driver instead of helping the victims. "To save his life, the driver speeds away running over the injured in many cases," she added.

"If people stop beating the driver in case of any accident, the number of accidents (casualties) will come down by 50 percent," she said, adding that no one should take the law in hands; rather the driver should be handed over to police. "I think all should abide by traffic rules on roads."

The prime minister said the government has taken various measures, including marking Zebra-crossing, deploying traffic police and volunteers in front of schools and construction of underpasses and footbridges, to ensure road safety.