How long will road accident victims wait for compensation?
We assumed that order would be restored on the roads and the number of accidents would reduce after an unprecedented movement in 2018 to demand safe roads at the initiative of students. That did not happen. Despite low traffic during the pandemic, 2,891 people have died in road accidents this year till last September. Around 4,138 people died last year. People involved with the safe road movement say that in fact the death toll in road accidents is much higher as all news do not get media coverage while cases for some accidents are not filed.
In 2018, a month after the Safe Roads Movement, the government passed a new law in parliament. But it has not been effective for so long due to opposition from road transport owners and workers' organisations. The government issued a circular to implement the law in September, which called for compensation for those killed, injured and whose property destroyed in road accidents. The provision for compensation in the Road Transport Ordinance of 1973 was also repealed due to the enactment of a new law.
On the other hand, the legal framework, rules and funds required for road accident compensation have not been finalised yet. The law stipulates that compensation must be determined by the Board of Trustees and the activities of the Board of Trustees must be conducted in accordance with the rules. Finally, the Board of Trustees was formed on 22 December. The chairman and secretary of the BRTA will be the chairman and secretary of the Board as additional responsibilities. But the rules on which the board of trustees will work have not yet been made. Last year, the draft rules of the board of trustees were sent to the law ministry. But the law ministry called it "incomplete". Following the directive of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, the BRTA sent a new draft in September for clearance from the law ministry.
It is recommended in the draft rules, to compensate the victims of road accidents, providing Tk 500,000 to the families of the killed and Tk 300,000 to the families of the injured. The draft also calls for the creation of a fund in this regard, which will come from the transport owners. The draft rules also state that bus and truck owners will contribute Tk 1,000 per year, private car owners Tk 300 and motorcycle owners Tk 500 to the fund.
When will the rules be finalised? When will the fund be formed? When will the Board of Trustees be able to start work? Two years have already passed since the enactment of the law. Until these are finalised, the families of those killed in road accidents, the injured and victims of financial loss will not be able to seek compensation.
At present, some of the victims have filed writ petitions with the High Court and got a verdict in favour of compensation, but the people concerned are delaying to enforce it. It is everyone's expectation that the trustees should immediately finalise the rules and regulations for the victims of road accidents so that the victims get compensation smoothly.