Reckless driving and excessive speed of motorbikes on roads and highways are causing fatal accident almost every day across the country.
Abdullah Al Hussain, a very talented cricket player was hit by a speedy pickup truck on the road in Juri Upazilla in Moulvibazar and died on the spot on Sunday.
Parvez Ahmed, a student of Diploma Engineering in the capital, used to come to Dhaka every day on a motorcycle from Savar to attend classes. On his way to Dhaka on Tuesday, he was hit by a speedy vehicle on the road in front of the NR CNG filling station at Boliapur in Hemayetpur on the Dhaka-Aricha highway and died on the spot. Highway police could not identify the vehicle.
Numerous motorcyclists like Hussain and Parvez are dying prematurely in accidents on various roads and highways across the country.
As the number of motorcyclists and drivers in the country increased in the last two years, the number of accidents also increased at an alarming rate.
In the last one year, about one and a half thousand people were killed in motorcycle accidents in the country alone.
Low speedy motorcycles are very incongruous with speedy vehicles on highways. But the number of accidents is increasing day by day due to the movement of motorcycles on highway.
Lack of lanes on the roads, lack of understanding and non-compliance with traffic laws, non-enforcement of road safety laws and indifference of highway police are the main causes of accidents.
Experts said motorcyclists are extremely reckless on roads and highways. Many of the drivers are new and driving without licence. They do not care about any kind of law. It is very often observed that three passengers carrying goods are crossing the road or highway on a motorcycle. These motorcyclists are causing more accidents. Statistics show that 68 per cent of motorcycle accident victims are between the age group of 14 and 40.
Saidur Rahman, executive director of the Road Safety Foundation told the Bangladesh Post that 4,735 road accidents occurred across the country in 2020 leaving 5,431 people killed and 7,379 injured.
Of these total accidents, 1,378 motorcycle accidents killed 1,463 people. The death toll was 26.93 percent of the total. The rate of motorcycle accidents is 29.10 per cent.
In 2020, the number of motorcycle accidents increased by 15.89 per cent while the number of deaths increased by 54.81 per cent.
Experts said there has been no visible progress so far in establishing discipline in the road transport sector. The main focus of the road is infrastructural development. Except a few number of highways, all other roads in the country have not undergone infrastructural development. As there is no lane and road divider on the road, clashes are taking places one after another and people are losing their lives.
In this context, the highway police DIG Harun Ur Rashid told the Bangladesh Post that there is no need to use motorcycles on the highway. But in our country as there is no alternative system, motorcyclists use the main road. Even then, every day we campaign to prevent the movement of slow moving vehicles, including motorcycles. Many motorcycles were seized and Legal actions were taken against them. Our dumping stations are now full of seized motorcycles. Highway police are working to prevent motorcycle accidents, the DIG added.
Transport experts said use and sale of motorcycles has increased due to the introduction of app-based transport culture.
