NO words can adequately convey the horror and grief caused by the head-on collision between a passenger bus and a sand-laden truck in Natore districtearly Tuesday.
At least 14 lives were lost and 20 others injured in yet another tragic reminder of the human cost of road crashes in the country.
WE have a Road Transport Actpassed in 2018, but it becomes too difficult for the authorities concerned to enforce the law. The issue still involves a multitude of unresolved problems.
Earlier the authorities had relied solely on this act without addressing the problems in road engineering, and traffic education. And for that reason their attempt was failed.
Not only that inadequate infrastructure, logistics, and shortage of human resources are still there.
The Transport Associations have already demanded repeal of several sections of the act, delaying the process of enforcing the law.
The associations, mostly led by people almost all the time close to the ruling party, had enforced transport strikes in different districts.
Apparently, they had tried to collapse transport sector with a view to paralyse the public movement.
It’s a common trend since many years that the transport mafias stand in the way of implementation of government directives and court orders almost often.
The issuance of fake licenses is still a big problem.
There are about 45 lakh registered vehicles in the country and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority has so far issued around 24 lakh driving licences.
It proves that half of driving licenses fake. These have to be brought to the licensing process immediately.
Another major issue is unregistered and unfit vehicles. Currently, there are an estimated 10-12 lakh unregistered, battery-and-engine-run three-wheelers and other vehicles across the country.
These vehicles are largely responsible for frequent crashes. There are only 109 Vehicle Inspectors and only one Vehicle Inspection Centre in the country.
There are also problems with parking spaces. Presently, a few commercial buildings have adequate parking spaces.
It is not yet sure when the government would be able to implement the law in full force but it will have to solve all the problems before implementing the law.
We should remember that behind every death lies a family shattered, loved ones bereaved and futures abruptly cut short.