Increase in road crashes not a one-dimensional problem
Says DMP chief
The increase of road accidents in the country is not a one-dimensional problem, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said at a programme in the capital yesterday.
“Carelessness of the drivers is one of the reasons. But apart from that, pedestrians are also reckless, crossing roads haphazardly with lack of civic sense,” he said while attending a mock parliamentary debate as chief guest at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation.
Lack of infrastructure and flawed road engineering are also reasons for road accidents, he added.
Expressing frustration over the age-old traffic system, the DMP Commissioner said Bangladesh is the only country where traffic system is still maintained by raising hands.
“For any ideal city, there should be 25 percent [area of] road to implement a good traffic system, whereas we have only eight percent. That's why a fair traffic system didn't grow here,” he added.
The debate competition on role of drivers in road accidents was organised by Debate for Democracy, and presided by its chairman Hassan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron.
Kiron said death on roads have been increasing due to the reckless driving, unfit vehicles and unplanned road and highways, where slow-moving vehicles like Nosimon-Korimon are still plying.
Competition among drivers and their long working hours make the situation more susceptible to road crashes, he added.
Bangladesh University of Business and Technology won the competition, beating the team of Stamford University.