No deterrents for killers on the road
The death of a singer and music composer, Parvez Rob, after being hit by a recklessly driven bus of Victor Classic Paribahan followed by another bus of the same company hitting his son Mehedi and his friend Alvi, killing the latter instantly, is a horrific reminder of the mayhem that continues on our roads. Rob was killed when the reckless driver ran him over as he was trying to board another bus. A day later, Mehdi and his friend, both 19, had spotted a bus of the same company and were trying to stop it when its driver, like his co-worker, ran over both of them in an attempt to escape. All this goes to show that nothing at all has changed in terms of making the roads safer despite the passionate road safety movement by school students and the random drives conducted by the authorities. So are we just going to have to bear with these tragic, untimely deaths that are destroying families and taking a heavy toll on our nation's progress? How can we become a middle-income country if our fundamental right to life is constantly threatened by reckless driving and other traffic violations?
These incidents can no longer be treated as "accidents" as the drivers of these buses and their employers are well aware of the traffic rules yet they choose to violate them wilfully with no regard for human lives. The laws that apply to these incidents have not been enforced strictly—in fact, transport workers and owners enjoy an inexplicable degree of immunity that allow them to ignore their liability in these countless deaths and injuries. Even now, after so much public outrage over these senseless deaths, road crashes account for an unbelievable number of casualties.
We are bewildered and disillusioned by the state's indifference to this malaise of deliberate, wild driving, the countless numbers of unfit vehicles on the road and the poor conditions of the roads themselves—all ingredients for horrible road crashes. The cost to the nation of such apathy is enormous. It includes the psychological trauma of losing loved ones, families losing their earning members and the nation losing productive citizens who are either dead or disabled for life. In this latest incident, the drivers and their employers must be held responsible for the deaths and grievous injury caused; the victims and their families should receive appropriate financial compensation from the bus company involved.
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