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Editorial

WB approves $358m to improve road safety

Timely execution must be ensured


Bangladeshpost
Published : 31 Mar 2022 09:21 PM

Almost every day we are bombarded with reports of grisly road mishaps, deaths and injuries. The expected road safety in the country is still a distant dream as the procession of death on the country’s roads and highways is continuing unabated. Though too many lives are being lost on roads every day, the reasons for the accidents are not being investigated with due importance. After every incident of road crash we hear pledges of taking effective measures from the authorities concerned but the issue falls into oblivion within a few days which is why the procession of deaths on the roads never stops.

It is good to note that the World Bank on Tuesday approved $358 million financing to help Bangladesh improve road safety and reduce fatalities and injuries from road traffic crashes in selected high-risk highways and district roads. Reportedly, in two national highways—N4 (Gazipur-Elenga) and N6 (Natore to Nawabganj)—the project will pilot comprehensive road safety measures, including improved engineering designs, signing and marking, pedestrian facilities, speed enforcement, emergency care. It is envisaged that these measures will help reduce road traffic deaths by more than 30 percent on these two highways.


The government should take more severe steps 

in ensuring punishment of the drivers who 

do not follow the traffic rules


In order to ensure road safety for all, the design and quality of the roads and highways must be improved; unfit vehicles should not be allowed on the roads and there should be mass awareness on traffic rules. So many lives are being lost on our roads every day, and it’s time the government put all-out efforts to bring some order on the road. We must take stern actions against reckless driving. Also, unskilled drivers of vehicles, most often not having a legal licence, should be identified and punished. 

We should devise immediate measures to improve the current road safety issues, such as examining driver’s skill and vehicle fitness, discouraging reckless driving, improving the traffic police control system and ensuring more cooperation between the drivers and owners. Also, transport owners should scrutinise the driving skill of the drivers before recruiting. Last but not least, the government should take more severe steps in ensuring punishment of the drivers who do not follow the traffic rules.