Illegal and unchecked: The growing menace of wrong-side driving in Dhaka

About two weeks ago, a woman, her four-year-old child, and a man were travelling in a rickshaw along the Nabinagar-Chandra highway in Ashulia. The rickshaw, attempting to take a shortcut, was moving on the wrong side of the road. 

As it approached a waterlogged drain near Baipail, it lost balance and tipped over. Within those few critical seconds, a truck, coming legally from the opposite direction, ran them over. The man died on the spot, while the woman and child later died in the hospital. 

This tragic incident, captured on CCTV, portrays the growing dangers posed by wrong-side driving, especially by small, fragile vehicles like rickshaws, battery and CNG-run auto rickshaws — on Dhaka's busiest roads.  

A growing menace

Dhaka's traffic problem is hardly new. But in recent years, it has worsened, fuelled by the unchecked growth of battery-powered rickshaws and autorickshaws. These small vehicles, originally meant for narrow lanes and inner neighbourhoods, are now regularly seen on highways, major roads, and even flyovers.

And frequently enough to raise concern, they are moving against the flow of traffic.

Many years ago, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) authorities introduced a lane system to bring overtaking, congestion, and road accidents under control. According to that plan, specific lanes are designated for vehicular movement. 

The fast lane, as per the system, is meant for fast-moving vehicles such as private cars, microbuses, and jeeps while CNG-run auto rickshaws, motorbikes, and other vehicles are supposed to ply through the third (slow) lane. 

In contrast, it is often seen that battery and CNG-run auto rickshaws often occupy the fast lane on Dhaka streets, creating traffic chaos and obstructing vehicular movement.

The drivers of these auto rickshaws do not limit themselves to plying through the wrong lane; rather, they also often drive through the wrong side, posing serious risks. 

"Vehicles that tend to violate traffic laws have increasingly flooded the roads in recent years. Take easy bikes and battery-powered rickshaws, for example. Their numbers have grown so significantly that the frequency of law-breaking is now far more visible. As a result, the level of disorder is rising."

Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, Public transport expert and professor of Civil Engineering at BUET

What was once an occasional break of the law has now become a routine. At night, and increasingly during the day, these vehicles travel on the wrong side — not just to save time, but because there are no real consequences or punitive measures in place. 

This silent acceptance of rule-breaking has become the norm, placing lives at risk.

"Vehicles that tend to violate traffic laws have increasingly flooded the roads in recent years," said Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, professor of Civil Engineering at BUET, and former director of the Accident Research Institute. 

"Take easy bikes and battery-powered rickshaws, for example. Their numbers have grown so significantly that the frequency of law-breaking is now far more visible. As a result, the level of disorder is rising," he explained. "In fact, it is reaching a point where vehicles are consuming the entire road capacity by driving on the wrong side." 

The damage being done

The dangers posed by autorickshaws and similar vehicles can be seen in two major ways: they obstruct legal traffic, and they contribute to accidents.

Firstly, these vehicles significantly slow down traffic that is trying to move in the correct direction. Vehicles that follow the rules are often forced to brake, swerve, or wait for oncoming rickshaws to pass — all of which consumes valuable time and road space. Traffic flow becomes sluggish, creating tailbacks that ripple out far beyond the initial disruption. 

Buses, in particular, are at a disadvantage. As Dr Hoque pointed out, "Due to the rise in rickshaw numbers and the widespread use of the wrong side of the road, buses are becoming unpopular. They are slowed down significantly by oncoming vehicles that should not be there in the first place." 

This has created a vicious cycle. As buses become slower and less reliable, people shift to smaller, more flexible vehicles like shared bikes and autorickshaws — further increasing congestion.

Secondly, there is the danger of accidents. Serious collisions on high-speed roads are often caused by attempts to avoid fragile, slow-moving vehicles coming from the wrong direction. Such surprise encounters offer drivers very little time to react, and in many cases, even emergency braking cannot prevent a crash. 

Rickshaws and autorickshaws are structurally weak, and the people operating them are often untrained, underage, or unaware of basic road safety. These vehicles are not built to be on highways. Their presence on such roads is not just illegal, it is lethal. 

"Dhaka does not witness a high number of major accidents, minor collisions are more common. Serious accidents tend to occur on high-speed roads. Often, a crash happens while trying to avoid fragile, unprotected vehicles," noted Dr Hoque. "When vehicles suddenly appear from the wrong direction, they create surprise situations on the road where even braking fails to prevent a crash." 

Enforcement and its limits

While the authorities claim to be aware of this growing menace, their efforts remain largely reactive and often inadequate.  

Md Sarwar, additional commissioner (Traffic) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, acknowledged the situation, saying, "Regardless of whether it is a vehicle or a rickshaw travelling in the wrong direction, we are filing cases against them. Every day, we are sending around 300 to 400 rickshaws to the dumping ground. Rickshaw seats, batteries and other components are being seized. Rickshaw trappers have been installed in various locations."

Yet, despite such actions, the problem persists. Even in the presence of traffic police, vehicles, especially the smaller ones, continue to move against traffic. This raises a more serious concern — not quite with the enforcement part, but with systemic capacity.

In many parts of Dhaka, police officers are busy manually managing traffic signals — a task that in most cities is handled by automated systems. As a result, there is little room for proactive monitoring or real-time intervention.

Moreover, as Sarwar pointed out, passengers also play a role in this culture of lawlessness. "In many instances, passengers are more responsible than the rickshaw-pullers themselves. It is often the passengers who persuade the driver to break traffic rules."

Accountability matters, but whose?

There is no single solution to this problem. But ignoring it is not an option. While the need to reconsider the role of autorickshaws in the city's transport system has been discussed for years, tangible improvements remain largely absent.

More importantly, structural reform is necessary within the institutions tasked with managing Dhaka's roads. As Dr Hoque points out, "The institutions tasked with oversight focus only on project-based development. Crucially, they are not held accountable for the outcomes." This lack of accountability results in short-lived, fragmented interventions rather than lasting impact. 

But government action alone will not solve the issue, according to Sarwar. Behaviour on the roads is shaped just as much by public habits as by state policy. Without public cooperation, even the strictest enforcement can fall short.