An accident is the cry of a lifetime. The number of road accidents is constantly increasing. The march of death in road accidents does not stop. Everyday many accidents are happening somewhere in the country.  As the number of deaths in these accidents is increasing, the number of injured is also increasing. During the Eid trip, this accident increases manifold. All these accidents are very shocking and heartbreaking.

According to a recent report conducted by the Road Safety Foundation, 4 thousand 166 people were killed in road accidents in seven months from January to July this year. Only in July, 739 people including 105 women and 109 children were killed and 2 thousand 42 people were injured in 632 road accidents.

According to this report, 251 people were killed in motorcycle accidents in July alone.  Another report run by the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association says, 398 people were killed and 774 injured in road accidents in the 15 days before and after this year's Eid-ul-Azha. The number of casualties was the highest in the last seven years.  And compared to last year,the number of road accidents increased by 24.76 percent and the number of fatalities increased by 31.41 percent.  

Most accidents and deaths are occurred on motorcycles.  According to the information of this organization, 131 people were killed and 68 people were injured in 113 motorcycle accidents this Eid, which is 35.42 percent of the total road accidents and 32.91 percent of the fatalities. On the other hand, the data released by the Road Safety Foundation says, 311 people were killed and 1,197 injured in 272 road accidents in the 12 days before and after this year's Eid-ul-Azha.

During this period, the number of deaths in 154 motorcycle accidents was 123, which is 39.54 percent of the total deaths. Most of the drivers and passengers killed in motorcycle accidents were of young age.  Those aged between 14 and 20. About 68 percent of these accidents occurred on roads and highways from morning to afternoon.  

However, among the reasons behind the road accidents that have come up again and again, unfit and defective vehicles, reckless speeding by unlicensed or illegally licensed drivers, competitive driving etc. are notable.  According to a study by BUET's Road Accident Research Institute (ARI), 53 percent of road accidents are due to over-speeding and 37 percent due to the reckless attitude of the drivers.  Accidents often occur due to inattention, driving under the influence of drugs, carrying excess goods or passengers, incompetence or driving with driver assistants.

 Moreover, less roads than required, narrowing of roads for illegal parking are also significant among the other causes of accidents.  According to researchers, 25 percent of the total area of a city should have roads.  But in big cities including the capital Dhaka, its amount is only 6 to 7 percent.  Our poor traffic system is also largely responsible for road accidents. Besides, unskilled, unlicensed and fake drivers are not less.  

According to police statistics, incompetent drivers are responsible for 90.69 percent of accidents.  The number of valid drivers with license is 30 lakh 25 thousand against the total of 51 lakh vehicles in the country.  The remaining 21 lakh drivers are either fake or unlicensed.  It goes without saying that these incompetent and fake drivers are responsible for most of the accidents in the country.

Even though the level of road accidents is increasing day by day, the road-highway and traffic control authorities are often seen playing a silent role; which is considered as the latent cause of road accidents.  Apart from this, the information of the two aforesaid organizations mentioned that lack of road signs and road lights on the national highway, construction defects of the highway, driving of vehicles in the opposite direction, increase in the number of motorcycles, easy bikes and autorickshaws at an alarming rate have also played an important role in road accidents.

Step up measures to combat road mess  

Step up measures to combat road mess  
Needless to say that if such anarchy and chaos continues on the roads and highways, the roads will become more death pits day by day.  Therefore, steps must be taken to make roads safer by preventing the increasing speed of road accidents. So effective measures should be taken to ensure that no one can drive without a license or with a fake license.  In order to obtain a license, not only literacy, but also educational qualifications up to at least class eighth, as well as being well trained, must be included.  

Institutional training for drivers and exemplary punishment against drivers who violate traffic laws and drive recklessly should be ensured strictly. About 10 percent of the country's total vehicles are running without fitness. Even though there is no one to see the dilapidated and unfit vehicles driving in front of the authorities for a long time.  

When an accident occurs, the authorities are alert; a thorough analysis, discussion-criticism goes on - this car had no license, no fitness, no route permit etc. However, no action is taken even if such types of vehicles are plying on the road for a long time. In addition to stopping these defective vehicles, all the dishonest miscreants with whose direct and indirect help these vehicles ply on the road should be found and punished accordingly.  It is also true that drivers are not the only ones responsible for accidents.  Accidents also happen due to the lack of awareness of pedestrians.  For that, pedestrians should be forced to obey traffic laws and use sidewalks and footover bridges along with increasing awareness.  Along with the introduction of lane system on the road, those who drive in the opposite direction should be brought under the law.

 If proper implementation of the 'Road Transport Act 2018' is ensured along with formulation of sustainable transport strategy and its implementation, road accidents will be greatly reduced.  Moreover, if the transport sector is freed from extortion and political influence, discipline will return to this sector.  After all, the government's keen attention to people-friendly communication systems and safe roads will reduce road accidents to a great extent, and our roads will undoubtedly be safer.

The writer is social worker and lecturer, Department of Social Work, Savar Government College, Savar, Dhaka