Fated to die on roads?

Even after continuous pressure from all quarters, much-needed measures to cut down road accidents remain merely a matter of paperwork to the peril of thousands of commuters everyday. With the rainy season setting in, the already dilapidated roads and highways will be dotted with puddles, aggravating the risks of accidents ever more. The gravity of the situation, however, sinks in the minds of the government authorities only when a celebrity or a large number of people fall victim to fatal accidents.
In a meeting organised by the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) on Sunday, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader castigated the sluggish progress of road development work and urged all concerned government agencies to pull themselves up by the bootstraps to complete their job. Although we appreciate the minister's exhortations, we think he would need to ensure that actual progress of work takes place.
The Accident Research Centre (ARC) of BUET and other transport experts have already identified the reasons behind frequent road accidents. They have made it crystal clear that there are three basic causes for road accidents. First, structural flaws such as designing and engineering of highways that include road shoulders, road markings, and warning signals at bends and sidewalks. Second, fitness of the vehicles and third, eligibility of the drivers. On a number of occasions, the ARC has asserted that if road dividers are installed on highways and city footpaths are cleared of illegal makeshift shops, accidents can be reduced by half. Yet, all of their warnings and suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.
When there are such definitive findings supported by scientific research, the question logically arises who is accountable for the accidents. There is no gainsaying that in the main the responsibilities rest with government authorities such as Roads and Highways Department, BRTA and traffic and highway police who are steeped in laxity and corruption. Plying of unfit vehicles on highways and issuing of fake license to untrained drivers are stark proof BRTA's irregularities. We also recall here the role of the shipping minister as the executive president of the Bangladesh Sharak Paribahan Sramik Federation in giving occasional indulgence to errant drivers.
It is imperative that the communications minister take the government bodies along with his concerns to bring down accidents which, to our mind, requires implementation of the ARC's suggestions.