‘Research findings show that around 20% of drivers in the accidents are drug addicts’ 

On Saturday, three members of a family were killed after a truck ran over them in the Court Building area in Trishal on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. The deceased were Jahangir Alam (42), his pregnant wife Ratna Begum (32), and their six-year-old daughter Sanjida. On the eve of her death, the pregnant mother gave birth to a newborn girl soon after the accident. 

On the same day, at least 26 other people died in road accidents in nine districts across the country. Though road accidents are a daily occurrence in Bangladesh, accidents and fatalities rise manifold during Eid vacation every year. The Director of BUET's Accident Research Institute, Professor Hadiuzzaman, talked to the Business Standard about his findings pertaining to this surge in road accidents across the country.

Road accidents have become a common phenomenon in Bangladesh. What kind of pattern do you find in road accidents across the country? 

Basically, we see the news of road accidents year-round. But during the Eid holidays, it becomes a plague. And one of the big reasons behind it is illegal vehicles like three-wheelers, modified vehicles like Nasiman and Kariman [locally made vehicles], auto rickshaws and motorcycles. 

But we have been observing a new trend recently. As some highways have been converted from two lanes to four lanes and road dividers have been constructed, the number of head-on collisions has come down. But during this Eid Holiday, the number of head-on collisions suddenly spiked. It is very alarming. 

Head-on collision is the type of accident with the highest fatality rate. The reason is that unskilled drivers go to the highways with unfit vehicles and drive them recklessly. And this very tendency is increasing the number of head-on collisions on the roads. Incompetent drivers even drive on the wrong lane to overtake other vehicles, taking high risk. 

Another thing is that research findings show that around 20% of drivers in the accidents are drug addicts, and the tendency to take risks is high among drug addicts. 

Another alarming finding is that the number of heavy vehicles like trucks has increased since last year. According to the findings, one of the main reasons behind the rise in accidents is that the number of unfit automobiles has increased. The government has given vehicle owners many opportunities to make them fit without paying any fines. Sadly, vehicle owners, especially heavy vehicle owners, care little about the opportunity.  

The number of illegal vehicles, unauthorised drivers, motorcycles, and unfit heavy vehicles contribute to undisciplined roads and highways. As a result, road accidents are increasing day by day. 

We have seen that during the Eid vacation, road accidents rise to a great extent.  Why do road accidents increase during Eid vacation?   

During Eid vacation, the number of road accidents increases. We have seen [from research] that people experience three types of predicaments during Eid vacation: traffic jams [primarily before Eid], road accidents [after Eid] and fare hikes [before and after Eid]. When the number of Eid vacation days is fewer, the roads experience tremendous pressure from vehicles, and vehicles slow down, which causes a massive gridlock. 

And the main reason behind the road accidents after Eid is the lack of sufficient public transport. The existing road transport can carry around 50% of the passengers during Eid. The rest of the passengers have no alternative. As a result, they have to travel by risky and illegal buses, trucks and motorcycles, as well as on the roof of trains. As a result, the number of road accidents rises during Eid vacation. The number of skilled drivers is also insufficient. 

Moreover, unfit buses and other vehicles also ply the roads to carry passengers, ultimately leading to accidents. At the time of Eid, local buses are used as long-haul buses as these buses do not have fitness and lack skilled drivers. There is a vast difference between driving a bus in a city area and highways. When unskilled drivers drive unfit vehicles on highways, the risk increases manifold. 

During this Eid, the government has banned inter-district motorcycles to lower the risk of accidents on the highways. This was a good initiative. But we have observed that our road management system is not motorcycle-friendly. Our roads do not have separate lanes for motorcycles. The heavy vehicles, as well as motorcycles, ply the same lane. 

Studies from developed countries - where people abide by the law and the quality of roads is good - found that motorcycles are 17 times riskier than heavy vehicles. In our country, where most people do not know the law and care little about it, where roads and highways are very undisciplined, motorcycles are even riskier. 

During last year's Eid, we saw that around 40% of people who died in road accidents were motorcycle riders. This time motorcycles were banned on highways. Even after that, 40% of people who died in road accidents, this time around, were bikers. Our roads and highways are not motorcycle-friendly. 

Though the number of deaths is low [comparatively] this time, the percentage of deaths on motorcycles is the same. If motorcycles were allowed during this Eid, more people would have died. 

There were many black spots and accident-prone curves on the Dhaka-Aricha highway, and the number of accidents was once high. Do those black spots still exist, or have they been fixed? 

Most of the black spots [locations which attract more accidents by comparison with other similar locations on the road system] on the Dhaka-Aricha highways have been fixed. The curves have been straightened, and the roads have been widened. These curves were in a tight radius. As a result, once, head-on collisions were very high on the highway. After the highway improvement, the number of road accidents has come down to a great extent. 

There are many accident-prone areas on the highways, and it is a result of a lack in proper planning regarding highway adjacent land usage in our country. As a result, people get the scope of the establishing market [haat bazaars] and other buildings on both sides of the highways. This results in slow-moving vehicles [for example easybikes] stopping in the middle of busy highways. 

That means one of the government's ministries is busy widening the roads and constructing highways to increase productivity and reduce accidents; at the same time, another ministry is allowing people to build haat bazaars beside highways. So, there is a considerable lack of coordination among the ministries. 

Basically, we do not have any balance on our roads and highways. 

The government has been trying to stop three-wheelers from plying the highways but has failed to do so, so far. What do you think is the reason?

One of the main reasons behind the indiscipline on the highway is the three-wheelers and slow-moving vehicles like Nasiman and Kariman. The first thing is that these are illegal. The government has not given any licence for these vehicles. 

I think the government has failed to control the three-wheelers because local political leaders and three-wheelers owners' associations, and some law enforcement agency members are backing them and getting illegal benefits from it. The high court ruled that three-wheelers should not be allowed to ply highways. The Sarak Paribahan Ain also criminalises three-wheelers on the highways. These people are bribing people to enable them to run the vehicles. 

But I believe that if the government wants to stop the three-wheelers earnestly, then it is possible. Now the number of such three-wheelers is more than three lakh. I don't think the government will be successful in controlling three-wheelers anymore. 

If the government [still] wants to control three-wheelers, they must provide alternative routes. They will have to construct separate service lanes for the three-wheelers.