Dr. Muhammad Mahtab Hossain Mazed :
Accidents happen on the roads every day. Accidental deaths are now a daily news headline.
When you watch the news on television or open the pages of a newspaper, you can’t help but feel depressed when you see the news of road accidents.
People of the mechanical age are moving at a mechanical speed. He has to give his life again by falling under that mechanical vehicle.
The rush of busy people is getting stuck on the roads; the inventors have to die by being crushed by the wheels of the machine monster. This is a strange contrast in human civilization.
Ensuring road safety is everyone’s responsibility. It is the responsibility of all citizens starting from pedestrians. Everyone should do their duty. It is the duty of all of us to give the gift of safe roads.
And as the days go by, the procession of death on the road is getting longer. The dream of a possible future is stopping. No one is watching. Not listening to the cries of relatives.
Even though there are so many rules and laws, this journey cannot be stopped. And death is accidental—it can be said only when it occurs despite taking all logical, scientific and empirical measures to prevent such events.
But when there is a possibility of such an incident happening in every corner of the country’s road transport and there are years of government evidence collection, public outrage and media reports on it, it can no longer be called an ‘accident’.
Rather, it becomes negligent ‘murder’. It is the responsibility of the concerned authorities who are responsible for preventing them as per law. Those in charge should be held guilty of such gross negligence.
Road death statistics in 2023 Among the accident victims in 2023, 1128 were children, accounting for 17.29 percent of the total and 974 were women, accounting for 14.92 percent of the total. In addition, two thousand 487 people were killed in two thousand 532 motorcycle accidents in the year, which is 38.12 percent of the total number of deaths.
The highest number of accidents and deaths occurred in Dhaka Division throughout the year. 1,694 people were killed in 1,967 accidents. 388 people were killed in 347 accidents in Sylhet division. 148 killed, 72 injured and 46 missing in 107 shipping accidents during the year. 318 people were killed and 296 injured in 287 railway accidents.
According to report, 7,814 people were injured and 904 people killed in 12,252 motorbike accidents from January to December 2023. The World Health Organization report says, 31,578 people die annually in road accidents in the country.
What can be done to prevent road accidents?
Nowadays, road accidents are a fear. The laps of thousands of mothers are empty due to accidents. Every day when you open the newspaper, you get news about road accidents. These are very painful. We think that it is not possible for the government alone to prevent road accidents.
All need a united role. People of the state including mass media, community, various organizations, NGOs, students, passengers, drivers, and pedestrians should come forward to prevent road accidents. But the most effective initiative can be taken by the government to prevent road accidents.
It is very sad to say that there are many laws to prevent road accidents, but they are not enforced. The government should be stricter in enforcing the law. And to prevent road accidents, first of all it is necessary to find out the causes of road accidents. The main reason is ignorance.
One of the causes of road accidents
1. Defective and unfit vehicles, 2. Using mobile phones while driving, 3. Additional passenger and goods transportation, 4. Disobey traffic laws, 5. Negligence of the concerned, 6. Reckless attitude, inefficiency and carelessness of drivers 7. Unprotected railway line, 8. Excessive speed and reckless overtaking 9. Not having road dividers, 10. Incompetence and lack of proper training of drivers, 11. Unawareness of passengers crossing the road, 12. Where to transfer passengers, 13. Broken road, 14. and driver and passenger distrust of traffic laws. In this way, road accidents are increasing due to various reasons.
The nation wants to get rid of this accident. Any death is sad. If the death is untimely and sudden, it is more difficult to accept.
Finally, I want to say that mass media is a tool of mass awakening. Media has acted as a ‘Mushkil Asan’ during various transitions of the nation.
Be it natural disasters, political unrest, or other emergency times – Bangladeshi media have always played a significant role in overcoming them.
Due to their role as watchman, the movement to establish social justice in Bangladesh is very fast today. And the road accident is no longer just an accident, but over time it has turned into a man-made disaster – media is working as one of the catalysts in the movement to establish accident-free safe roads besides establishing this view. Sometimes in the context of irreparable damage or unbearable tragedies on the roads, we have seen the brilliant role of the media.
And reducing the pressure on the roads; Road accidents will be greatly reduced if ‘Road Transport Act-2018’ is implemented smoothly along with formulation and implementation of sustainable transport strategies.
It is necessary to keep everyone’s attention so that tragic deaths in road accidents do not happen. That is why we need awareness.
Therefore, coordinated initiatives are needed to prevent road accidents. Government, drivers, owners, workers and passengers should all be alert and aware – remember, life is more valuable than time. Only then the roads will be safe.
The procession of deaths will decrease. However, the death rate on the roads will decrease through the specific steps of the government and the awareness of the drivers and the general public, it is expected by all.
(Author is a columnist and researcher, Also founder and chairman, Jatiya Rogi Kallyan Society, Email, [email protected])