People must know road accident reasons

Despite a number of measures taken by the government, road crashes took away 66 lives across the country in just four days during the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation. Road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader urged all to not spread confusion and fear over road conditions during the Eid holidays and claimed in one of his Facebook posts that his ministry was vigilant this year to make the Eid trips comfortable and safe. We want to be reassured by his words, but the number of deaths which is 15 more than the previous year shows that his ministry's measures were not effective.

In just 72 hours, 375 people underwent treatment at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) hospital. No explanation from the ministry has come over the deaths of 66 people in road crashes.

It is true that the Eid passengers' journeys were quite comfortable this year compared to those of the previous years. So, the ministry has to look into the reasons of road accidents; whether it happens due to reckless driving of the drivers or lapses in road management.

Following a student movement for road safety, the government last year issued a law increasing punishment of those who breach the laws. But, the ruling party-backed transport owners and workers protested against the law.

The efforts taken by the High Court including compensation for road crash victims created hope among the victims. It is a matter of concern that the government is not executing the HC's orders.

In 2018, road crashes claimed 49 people in 17 districts. According to media reports, around 10 to 12 people die every day in road accidents. However, we don't get the statistics of how many people are injured or crippled for rest of their lives in the road crashes. We demand the government agencies publish accurate information over this. The ministry should take proper steps after investigating why the number of deaths increased this year in road crashes.

The number of vehicles rises during Eid considering increased passengers. But whether these vehicles had fitness certificates should be looked into. Besides, the speed of transport is possible to be controlled digitally. A vehicle makes multiple trips for the owners' profit and ‘human haulers’ and auto-rickshaws were supposed to be banned on highways. We can guess the discipline on the roads and highways worsened during Eid holidays.

We hope the road transport and bridges minister will explain people why so many people died on roads not simply by his assumptions but through institutional inquiry. It is not a weakness to let people know the real condition. Rather, this type of step will help alleviate people's pessimism towards the government. We want to see safe roads not just during Eid but every day of the year.