Street Accidents in Bangladesh
Street accidents have become a major problem in Bangladesh. There has been an alarming rise in road accidents, significantly highway accidents, in Bangladesh over the past few years. Every day when we go through the newspapers, we come to know about a series of accidents and death of so many people owing to accidents with buses, trucks and other vehicles. The causes of a street accident are many. The main reasons are the reckless driving, over-taking of one vehicle by another, driving by unskilled drivers. Another reason is the violation of traffic rules. Street accidents are a regular phenomenon in our national life. These accidents occur for various reasons. According to a study conducted by the Accident Research Centre (ARC) of BUET, road accidents claim on average 12,000 lives annually and lead to about 35,000 injuries.
The roads and streets of our country are narrow. These streets are not straight as there are frequent turnings at short distances. Reckless driving often brings about accidents. Drivers are careless about the traffic rules and regulations. They recklessly drive their vehicles. Most of the drivers are not well trained and they have not adequate knowledge of the traffic system. Pedestrians are also responsible for street accidents. The crossroads here and there. To save the Pedestrian drivers sometimes lose control and accidents occur. Moreover, the condition of all vehicles is not up to the mark. So, plying of these defective vehicles is another factor of the street accident. A proper estimation of the economic cost of lives taken by road accidents in Bangladesh would surely reflect the considerable loss of addition to GDP.
Road accidents can cause irreparable loss and injure anyone any time badly. Sometimes it takes a toll of a great many lives. The effect of a road accident is pathetic. People lose their near and dear ones forever. The injured people due to accidents become a burden to the family their sufferings no know bound. Road safety education to pedestrians, especially children, within the communities by community leaders is also a good way to promote road safety.
The traffic police department has a crucial role to play in identifying and holding accountable reckless driving, speeding, and unstable or overloaded vehicles. The defective vehicles should not be allowed to ply on the roads. Reckless driving should be severely dealt with. Streets and roads should be expanded. Proper planning is needed at the time of constructing roads. Modern and scientific traffic system should be introduced in cities and towns. As citizens, we too have a role to play in ensuring road safety. While traveling in public transports, passengers should protest and stop speeding and reckless driving by bus and taxi drivers. The driving license should be issued after proper training and test. If all these steps can be taken properly, it will help to minimize accidents. Above all the people should be made aware of the dangers of an accident. For a developing country like Bangladesh, allowing its citizen to perish to road accidents is not only tragic but unacceptable!
