Dhaka needs more women behind the wheel

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said the number of road accidents would reduce if a greater number of woman drivers are in charge.

“Women drive vehicles abiding by rules and in cool head. They are not substance abusers. They do not talk on mobile phones while driving. So, the more women will be appointed as professional drivers the lesser will be the risks of road accidents,” said Quader.

The minister was addressing a programme to hand over certificates to the women who successfully completed a driving course at Brac Driving School in Dhaka, said a press release.

Quader said they want other institutions to come forward to help women gain self-dependence. The aim of these initiatives will simply go in vain if women fail to get jobs even after successfully completing such months-long courses, he said.

“So, both the government and private sectors have to clear their way to recruit women drivers. The government will consider this issue with more importance from now on,” he added.

Kazi Rowshan Akhter, secretary to the ministry of women and children’s affairs, said a Brac research shows that 94 percent women public transport users face sexual harassment.

“Women drivers in our country also deal with many challenges. We have to join hands in finding the root challenges as well as their solutions,” she said.

This programme -- “Women behind the wheel for road safety” -- was organised for the 8th batch of learners in which 11 women enrolled and all of them passed and received driving licences. The three-month training was conducted at Brac Learning Centre at Uttara.

Brac’s initiative to train women as professional drivers to promote both road safety and women-friendly commuting system has drawn praise at home and abroad.

Yesterday’s event began with a minute’s silence, paying tribute to the memory of Brac founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed.

Asif Saleh, executive director of Brac, said “Brac will continue its collaborative work with the government to ensure road safety and to create a women-friendly road and transport system.”

Ahmed Najmul Hussain, director of Brac’s administration and road safety programme; Mercy Miyang Tembon, country representative of World Bank (Bangladesh and Bhutan), and noted writer and researcher Syed Abul Maksud also attended the programme.

Brac started its training school in 2011 mainly to train people from the disadvantaged families with an aim to produce skilled and quality professional drivers. So far, the institute had trained 7,388 individuals in basic driving skills among which 1,973 are women.

It also trained 10,373 in professional driving of which 214 are women. A total of 599 women received training in driving motorbikes.