How many more lives must be lost for safe roads?

Eid-ul-Fitr is meant to be a time of reunion, reflection and joy. Yet, once again, as The New Nation reported last Thursday, the country has witnessed a grim and familiar pattern — festive travel turning into fatal tragedy.

Within just 24 hours of Eid, at least 32 lives were lost and more than 100 people were injured in road and rail accidents across several districts, underscoring the persistent dangers that accompany holiday travel.

The devastating train–bus collision in Cumilla, which claimed 12 lives, stands as a painful reminder of systemic failures in transport safety and rail crossing management.

Similar incidents in Habiganj, Feni, Natore, Kishoreganj and Sunamganj show that these are not isolated events but part of a recurring national crisis.

Each year brings the same warnings, yet the same tragedies continue to unfold.

The disaster was not unforeseen. Data and past experience have long shown that roads become more lethal during Eid due to increased traffic pressure, reckless driving and weak enforcement of traffic laws.

Police research indicating that reckless driving accounts for 42 per cent of accidents highlights a serious behavioural and regulatory failure.

Driver fatigue, pressure from transport owners to make extra trips and poor road discipline further intensify the risks on highways and rail crossings.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s expression of sorrow and directive for investigation and assistance to victims’ families is an important step.

However, investigations and compensation alone cannot resolve the deeper structural problems.

Sustained enforcement of traffic laws, strict regulation of transport operations during peak travel periods and proper safety measures at rail crossings — including functional gates, trained personnel and modern signalling — are essential.

Road safety experts have repeatedly warned that profit-driven transport practices and rising motorcycle accidents among young riders are worsening the situation.

Their warnings must be taken seriously. Eid should not become a season of mourning.

The real test of governance lies in prevention.

Without strict monitoring of highways, regulated transport schedules and modernised railway crossings, these tragedies will continue to recur.

Breaking this cycle of preventable deaths is now a national imperative.