Reckless driving goes unabated in port city

Monir Ahmed, a private job holder, was returning home from New Market area of Chittagong city after finishing his office recently.

When the human-hauler, he was onboard, reached at Prabartak intersection, the driver braked hardly to avoid a head-on collision with a three-wheeler which all of a sudden came in front of it from behind.

Though the passengers of the two vehicles, escaped a near-fatal accident, most of them could not help themselves falling on one another due to the sudden jerk, said Monir while talking to this correspondent.

But who cares? The frightened passengers hardly became aware of what just had happened, the drivers of the two vehicles again started overtaking each other holding the passengers hostage, he said.

“Already exhausted after office, I have to go through this competition of drivers on my way home every day,” Monir said.

Like him, thousands of commuters have to go through this due to the whimsical racing of drivers.

“Most of the time drivers exceed their speed limit. Some other unscrupulous drives park their vehicles haphazardly on the street obstructing the movement of other vehicles and creating a traffic chaos,” said Mozammel Huq, who commutes from city's Agrabad to WASA area regularly.

“They drive vehicles according to their will and we commuters are the ultimate sufferers,” he said, adding, “Such driving can cause fatal accidents anytime.”

Shafiqul Islam, a city bus driver of route 10 in the city, claimed that they have to compete with other drivers to get more passengers.

“We have to give Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,500 daily to the bus owners. We need additional Tk 3,500 to Tk 4,000 for other costs including that of fuel,” he said.

“After excluding all these, we have to think for ourselves,” he added.

Mohammad Mostafa, a human-hauler driver of route-3, said, he gives Tk 1,800 to Tk 2,000 to the owners of his vehicle daily.

“Keeping this in mind, we have to ply our vehicles,” he said.

Admitting all the facts, Mohammad Musa, president of Chittagong Regional Committee of Bangladesh Sarok Paribahan Sramik Federation, said, “We have to put emphasis on the proper enforcement of laws. Otherwise, indiscriminate driving will go on aggravating the traffic system.”

The system of depositing a fixed amount of money to the vehicle owners daily should also be changed, he opined.

Transport expert Subhash Barua too put emphasis on proper enforcement of traffic laws to stop the competition among drivers.

There can be introduced company-based mass transport system instead of individual ownership, he said, adding, owners can employ the transport workers and fix a monthly salary.

“In a word, a change has to be brought in the public transport system and the government has to take the initiative,” he opined.

Debdas Bhattacharia, additional commissioner (traffic) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said they are taking legal actions against the traffic rules violators regularly.