Implementing the road transport act

There had long been a need to update the road transport act. The recent death of two students in a road accident, followed by an unprecedented student protest, led the government to finally place the draft of this bill in parliament. This act mainly deals with the drivers’ discrepancies and due punishment. But these are not the only weaknesses in the transport sector. That is why questions remain as to how far this act will yield results. However, at least a step has been taken to come up with a transport act in Bangla.

The government must certainly make the concerned quarters who are vocal in this regard, aware that this is just an executive proposal and it can be further developed through the parliamentary process. If the requirement of further infrastructure and workforce in the area is not met, it will not be easy to implement the law. For example, when it comes to checking the fitness of vehicles, the government has only one inspector per 36,000 vehicles, that is, it collects Tk 5 billion from the car owners for the fitness check, against which it spends not more than Tk 100 million. This must be changed.

The proposed law is not very sensitive to the legitimate interests of the transport workers, including the drivers, and of the passengers. There is more concern for the interests of the transport owners and the transport sector officials. The move to create a fund and a trust for accident compensations is positive, but it is not comprehendible how this trust is autonomous when the government appoints its chairman and half a dozen joint secretaries.

Any good driver would not want to cause an accident on the roads. But the road conditions are not ideal. The vehicles are not fit. And they have to work for excessively hours under pressure from the transport owners.

After the recent student demonstrations, the prison sentence for seriously injuring or killing anyone by reckless driving has been increased from three to five years. Ironically, during his rule, under pressure from the labour leaders, Ershad has reduced this sentence from seven to three years. We could not reinstate the seven-year sentence in accordance to the recommendations of a committee under the 1/11 caretaker government. Now by adding two years, the government is taking credit of this ‘success’. Yet in neighbouring countries and the developed world, the sentence is from 10 to 14 years. Not only that, there is hardly a single instance where the convicted person has actually served a full three-year sentence.

The prevailing laws restrict working for any more than 48 hours a week, but this is blatantly violated. The transport owners resort to all sorts of ploys to force the workers to work way beyond these hours. This is one of the principle causes of the road accidents. Yet it has been proposed to abolish this provision. It has been sad the government will issue a circular in this regard instead. This is not acceptable.

Weak laws, of course, are not the main cause of the anarchy on the roads. The more important challenge for the government is not passing the law, but to ensure its implementation.