Motorbikes are considered a convenient mode of transport to get to one’s destination quickly moving through the exhausting and soul-sucking traffic jam of Dhaka city. However, it has become a common practice of bike riders to ride their bikes on footpath by blatantly violating traffic rules.
It has been nine years since the High Court banned the riding of motorbikes on footpath. On March 5, 2012, the High Court provided directives regarding this issue and asked concerned authorities to ensure the enforcement of these directives.
However, the situation still remains the same. Motorcycle riders ride onto the footpaths immediately after noticing a traffic jam, putting pedestrians at significant risk.
Moazzem Hossain, a professor of BUET’s civil engineering department and a transport expert, told Bangladesh Post that the existence of indiscipline in this sector is responsible for this problem.
“As they are smaller in size, can squeeze through narrow lanes and the procedure of getting motorcycle license is also not rigorous, they nurture this false idea that they can move through traffic in any situation. The number of motorcycles and motorcycle accidents are increasing day by day. The enforcement of law is also very weak in this sector. The internal system has to be brought under management to resolve this issue”, he said.
He suggested introducing high quality bus service system to reduce the number of motorcycles.
“No reliable alternative has been made available to the general public. As a result, people are leaning towards the use of motorcycles”, he added.
Moshtak Ahmed, traffic sergeant of Tejgaon-Gulshan Link Road said, “The number of bikes has increased significantly over the last few years. Most of the riders seem to lack patience; they just want to move ahead at any cost despite traffic congestion.”
Regarding the penalty and fine he said “Bikes riding on footpaths are fined a minimum of Tk 1000 and a maximum of Tk 10,000 depending on the severity of traffic law violation; cases are also filed against them.”
A Pathao rider, when asked about this tendency, blamed the competitive nature of riders. He said, “When one rider violates the rule and starts riding their bikes on footpath during gridlocks, others tend to follow. Sometimes passengers of bikes also encourage to resort to this kind of acts.”
Motorcycle accidents have increased due to the riders’ indifference towards traffic rules. They ride onto the footpaths immediately after noticing a traffic jam.
According to a recent research conducted by the Civil Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), a biker in Dhaka city changes lanes six times in a minute.
Bikers ply on the footpath endangering the pedestrians and disregarding the fact that it is intended for pedestrians to safely walk. They recklessly move forward by honking at them, acting like it’s a lane for motorbikes.
Bhumika Mahmud, a resident of Dhanmondi, said she goes through this kind of experiences on a regular basis.
“They ride on the footpath as if it’s their right to do so. Most of them don’t even consider such act as an offence”, she said.
Motorbike riders are often found arguing with the pedestrians aggressively, instead of acknowledging their own fault.
