Road Crashes: This April deadliest in 16 months
April saw the highest number of road crashes and deaths since January 2023, when Bangladesh Road Transport Authority started releasing road crash data.
The month turned deadliest despite the operations of the highest number of mobile courts in recent months.
Ten executive magistrates of BRTA conducted 234 mobile court drives in Dhaka and Chattogram last month, which was 6.44 times more than the previous month, shows BRTA data.
It also revealed a trend of gradual and steady rise in road crashes and deaths this year, indicating that roads are getting riskier.
Moreover, the road accidents and deaths have gone up by 53.91 percent and 39.69 percent respectively in the first four months of this year compared with the corresponding period of last year, according to BRTA statistics.
"All our warnings to control unfit vehicles and unskilled drivers have not been acted upon and that's why road crashes have risen," Prof Hadiuzzman, former director of Accident Research Institute at Buet, said.
BRTA data proves that only trying the errant drivers and vehicle owners or realising fines is not enough to make roads safer, he told The Daily Star yesterday.
The issue of road crashes and fatalities came to the fore after back-to-back road crashes killed at least 29 people last month.
On April 16, a head-on collision between a bus and a pickup in Faridpur left 15 people dead. The bus had no route permit, fitness certificate, or tax token and the pickup carried people illegally.
The following day, a truck ploughed into several vehicles in Jhalakathi, killing 14 people and injuring 12 others. The man at the wheel did not have a heavy vehicle driving licence.
Probes into road crashes found either the vehicles involved had no fitness clearances, the drivers had no valid licences, or the roads had issues.
GRADUAL RISE
BRTA started publishing accident data in January last year based on road crashes statistics collected by its divisional offices.
The state transport regulator started collecting the data after top officials of the road transport and bridges ministry on several occasions blasted different non-government organisations for publishing "fabricated" reports on road accidents and fatalities.
Those organisations, however, regularly published data based on media reports. They have termed the BRTA data "a very conservative estimation".
According to BRTA data, at least 632 people were killed in 658 road crashes in April this year. The numbers are the highest in any of the 16 months.
The figures of the previous three months show that the numbers of road crashes and deaths have been gradually rising since January.
Hadiuzzman said although the authorities concerned often said that they will take action against unfit vehicles, the number of such vehicles hit a record recently.
Some 6.17 lakh registered vehicles did not go through the mandatory annual fitness test till April 15 this year, shows BRTA data.
Besides, there are 35,782 registered buses older than 20 years and 37,275 trucks and lorries more than 25 years old. The authorities had fixed 20 years and 25 years as economic life of buses and trucks respectively but they halted the implementation of the decisionfollowing the demand of transport associations.
Hadiuzzman said the number of unskilled drivers also increased as the BRTA's licence issuance process is questionable.
Driving tests inside the BRTA compound, instead of on the road tests, is not enough to evaluate a person's skill, the transport expert said.
Speed of vehicles has increased due to improvement of roads but a lack of scientific intervention is resulting in the rise in road crashes and deaths, he said.
Replying to a question, Hadiuzzman said the number of road crashes increased in April due to the Eid rush.
Unfit vehicles and unskilled drivers ruled the road during Eid thanks to scarcity of vehicles and drivers, he added.
DRIVES INTENSIFIED
According to BRTA data, its executive magistrates conducted 234 mobile courts in April, up from only 34 in March.
The courts filed 1,359 cases against errant vehicles and drivers in April against the previous month's figure of 181. They realised fines of Tk 32.55 lakh in April, up from Tk 3.30 lakh in the previous month.
Apart from BRTA, executive magistrates of the district administrations also conducted mobile courts in their respective districts.
Hadiuzzman, however, said although enforcement of law is a must to ensure road safety, only filing cases and realising fines are not enough.
Because many errant drivers and vehicles hit the streets even after facing several cases, he added.
Apart from enforcement, the authorities concerned have to make road users aware of traffic rules, rectify engineering problems on roads, and ensure post-crash management to make roads safer.
Contacted, Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri said huge pressure of passengers during Eid was the reason behind the rise in road crashes in April.
Replying to a question, he said, "Transport experts have often advised us to strictly enforce the related laws. Once we begin strict enforcement, they start talking about creating public awareness and other issues.
"We are trying our level best… Everybody has some role to play here. They should carry out their duties too to make roads safer," he added.
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