Concerted efforts for safe roads
By taking to the streets in demand of safe roads, the school and college children have shown us all the discrepancies in the country’s public transport system, and also how to resolve these. Even before the Dhaka metropolitan police commissioner stated that 90 per cent of the people do not follow traffic rules, it was the children who showed us just how the rules were being violated and how this could be addressed. They displayed in no uncertain terms how order and safety could be restored on the roads if certain unlawful and dangerous habits could be curbed, such as driving down the wrong side of the street, using the wrong lane, rashly overtaking and so on.
Unfortunately, as soon as the young ones went back to their schools and colleges, things went back to square one. Disorder and danger reared up on the streets once again. The traffic week was launched which much fanfare, but it hardly made any difference. Traffic jams and extreme disorder are the norm. The police’s stringent measures are doing nothing to bring order to the roads. They are filing thousands of cases and fining large numbers of traffic violators, but to no avail.
According to a report in Monday’s Prothom Alo, around 65 thousand cases were filed over the last eight days in Dhaka city for violating traffic rules. There were 34 thousand cases against motorcyclists alone. This indicates just how rampant the propensity is to violate the rules. The most common violation is driving on the wrong side of the road and 5752 cases were filed in this regard. When there is such a propensity to drive down the wrong side of the road, it is only natural that chaos and anarchy will reign on the streets. And a section of powerful people think that traffic rules do not apply to them and so do not hesitate to go down the wrong way. During the protests, the students prevented these powerful people from using the wrong side of the road.
Under pressure of the student protest, traffic laws were amended, penalty for traffic offenders was increased, minimum educational qualifications for drivers were fixed and other measures undertaken. There was also effort to ensure an effective traffic week. However, there is no tangible impact of the safe road movement in public mindset and behaviour. Had there been any sort of enhanced awareness, then the police wouldn’t have had to file thousands of cases and impose so many fines.
On Sunday when a motorcyclist near New Market was halted and charged for going down the wrong side of the road, he and his friends beat up the police on duty and even attacked the police box. They police caught a few of them but had to release them under political pressure. Such incidents hamper enforcement of the rules. It is not the public who is responsible for this, it is the politically influential persons and quarters. The government’s political leaders must ensure that the law applies to all.
At the same time, the people must also get into the habit of following the traffic rules. This calls for a sense of responsibility and awareness. The roads can be safe with concerted efforts of all concerned.