Roads replete with deaths

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With official death toll of nearly 4,000 a year, road accidents cause the largest casualties in Bangladesh as neither existing laws nor law enforcement agencies are stringent enough to punish culprit drivers or transport owners.

The Accident Research Centre of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) however claims the real number of casualties is three times the official figure.

Moreover, the accidents inflict a severe damage — no less than Tk 5,000 crore annually or about 2 percent of the GDP — if calculated in financial terms.

Researchers and even Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) say drivers care little for traffic rules or committing an accident due to reckless driving.

“Even if reckless driving causes death to several people, the existing laws allow the driver to get bail easily. And if the driver concerned is convicted, the highest punishment is a mere three-year jail,” says BRTA Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose.

Soon after an accident, most of the times a section of unscrupulous police investigators take bribe to favour the culprit drivers or transport owners in their investigation reports, BRTA insiders allege.

Unfit vehicles and unskilled drivers also cause a significant number of accidents leading to deaths of many people. Statistics show 20 percent accidents occur due to faults in drivers’ part and eight percent due to vehicles’ unfitness.

The fine slapped on the drivers or owners for unfit vehicles is usually Tk 700, and the amount doubles if a traffic sergeant or mobile court gives the sentence.

On the other hand, if a driver is held without a licence or with fake documents, the fine is only Tk 200.

Another reason for accidents is not obeying the speed limit on the highways as hardly any drivers follow the roadside commands.

The authorities slap on drivers a fine of Tk 500 for crossing speed limit in the metropolis, but there is hardly any equipment or government agency to catch the violators.

Ironically, the only speed meter seen in use in the capital is on the Cantonment roads, where drivers are always found to be extra cautious.

Experts from BRTA and Buet say over-loading, ignorance of road users, hazardous roads and road environment, lack of training, and poor enforcement of traffic rules and regulations are other causes of accidents.

Statistics of the Police Headquarters show 3,749 people were killed and 3,273 injured in 4,869 road accidents across the country last year.

The number of the dead and injured was 3,193 and 2,409 in 3,794 accidents in 2006 and 3,187 and 2,754 in 3,954 accidents in 2005.

Experts believe the true figures are at least three times higher, as the system for reporting and recording accidents and casualties is very poor. The police also don’t record deaths of those who succumb to their injuries at hospitals.

Unofficially, about 15,000 people suffered injuries last year and many of them ended up being physically disabled and eventually jobless, say BRTA sources.

PUNISHMENT
A reckless driver pushing passenger(s) to death through an accident is prosecutable under section 279 of the penal code.

If the accident kills a few persons, the offender will face prosecution under section 304 (B) of the penal code. On the other hand, causing grievous hurt by reckless driving is punishable under section 338 (A).

If any driver is convicted under section 279, they will have to serve up to three years in prison or a fine up to Tk 5,000 or both.

The punishment under section 304 (B) is up to three years of imprisonment, or a fine, or both, and under section 338 (A) is up to two years of imprisonment, or a fine, or both.

“This lenient view on accidents encourages the offenders to commit the same crime again and again,” said a top official of the Traffic Department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

INITIATIVE TO ENACT MOTOR VEHICLE ORDINANCE, 2007
The proposed ordinance will recommend increasing minimum fine of Tk 50 for violation of motor vehicle rules to Tk 500 and the highest fine to Tk 10,000 from Tk 5,000 for changing vehicle structure.

“Now cases are being filed for traffic rule violation, but it’s not acting as a deterrent to the violation as the fine is minimal,” BRTA Chairman Bose told The Daily Star.

In the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1983 the government had tried to make a law with the provision of no bail and capital punishment if a driver’s negligence or reckless driving causes death to a pedestrian. But the government had to abandon the move in the wake of non-stop transport strike.

BRTA sources say the proposed ordinance might recommend imprisonment for 15 years and making it a non-bailable offence.

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