Want a bike? Get a licence
With an aim to reduce the gap between the numbers of motorbikes on the road and rider licence holders, having at least a learner’s licence has been made mandatory for buying a bike.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) also made it mandatory for all motorcycle manufacturers and sellers to train bikers and submit a compliance report.
The BRTA on June 13 sent a letter to all major motorcycle assemblers, manufacturers, and sellers in this regard.
“There is huge gap between motorcycles [registered with the BRTA] and number of bikers with licence. We have decided to reduce the gap and ensure road safety,” said Lokman Hossain Mollah, director (engineering) of BRTA.
The manufacturers and sellers will convey the message to their dealers and the BRTA, through its local offices, will follow up, Lokman, who signed the letter, told The Daily Star on June 17.
“We will take action if anyone ignores the directive,” he added.
As of May, of the 40.18 lakh vehicles registered with the BRTA, 26.23 lakh were motorbikes. Of these motorbikes, 14.71 lakh were registered in the last four years and five months.
Only around 10.53 lakh rider licences were issued between the birth of Bangladesh and March this year.
There is a huge number of motorbikes which have not been registered at all, according to transport sector insiders.
At least 1.77 lakh motorcycles were registered in first five months this year, that’s 1,173 bikes a day, according to the BRTA.
The increase in bike number could be attributed to traffic jams, poor public transport system in Dhaka city, nationwide economic development, and expanded road network.
Many prefer it as it can weave through and beat traffic.
However, transport experts and police found that motorbikes are more accident prone than three or four-wheeler vehicles and they tend to violate traffic rules more.
According to Accident Research Institute at Buet, of the 280 accidents reported in Dhaka city last year, motorcycles were involved in 24.47 percent of them.
In 2017, 263 accidents happened in the capital, and in 18.25 percent cases motorcycles were involved, it said.
The ARI prepared the data based on newspaper reports.
Against this backdrop, Road Transport and Highway Division (RTHD) held a views-exchange meeting last month with different motorcycle manufacturing, assembling, and selling companies.
At the meeting, Nazrul Islam, secretary of the division, said the issue of not being allowed to buy a bike without a licence had been discussed in different forums. But companies opposed the proposal saying it would hamper growth.
Currently, a person has to get a learner’s licence first from the local BRTA office or online, and then the authority gives the person time to take written, verbal, and practical tests. The person gets a licence if he or she passes the tests.
But the process usually takes six months to a year to complete and is a little complex. This creates room for brokers to step in. The brokers, in connivance with some unscrupulous BRTA staffers, realise two to three times the actual fees for a licence and give people the document faster.
The companies in the meeting emphasised on taking steps so that people can get licences quickly and without any hassle.
The meeting finally decided to make learner’s licence, instead of a proper licence, mandatory for buying motorcycles. The bike manufacturers and sellers were asked to prepare and distribute booklets about the process of getting bikes registered, and getting a licence, and on road safety.
Hafizur Rahman Khan, president of Motorcycle Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said they have taken the decision positively as “we are respectful of the law”.
He said it was not possible for them to ensure who actually rides the bikes bought from them.
Hafizur, also chairman of Runner Automobiles Ltd, claimed that they have training facilities in 18 districts and were already training riders.
Comments