Every life matters on the road
The BRTA road crash data in November 2023 reveals that, on average, 12 people died on the road every day. LGED looks to curb the accident numbers
The rural roads network expands every year in the country. The gazetted rural road network of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is 3,72,755 kilometres, of which 156,349 kilometres were paved as of July 2023.
This network has improved significantly over the last 25 years. As a result, vehicle ownership has increased two to three times, and vehicle movements and traffic volumes have also skyrocketed.
The rural road network uniquely contributes to developing socioeconomic conditions and the national economy. As a threshold for transforming Bangladesh into a developed country by 2041, the rural road network has to play a vital role.
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To keep the indomitable advancement of Bangladesh going, road safety is pivotal as fatal road accidents are the 5th leading cause of death for people of all ages worldwide. And Bangladesh is losing more human lives on the roads compared to many other countries.
Recently, the World Bank has prepared an action plan for LGED titled Rural Road Safety Action Plan 2023-2030, where they stated, "the WHO estimates a significant increase in road fatality rates in Bangladesh over the last decade – a 30% increase from 11.6 fatalities per 100,000 people in 2010 to 15.3 fatalities per 100,000 people in 2016. There were around 25,000 fatalities and 375,000 serious injuries in 2016 at a socioeconomic cost of $11.27 Billion or 5.1% of the national gross domestic product."
Meanwhile, on rural roads, the type of vehicles changes, speed increases, and the risk of clashes triggers. In reality, there is a scarcity of information about traffic fatalities on the LGED rural road network, and the traffic fatalities trend is going upward day by day.
According to a newspaper report, 9,951 people died and 12,356 were injured in 6,749 road accidents in Bangladesh in 2022. The BRTA road crash data in November 2023 revealed that, on average, 12 people died on the road every day.
In another study report on road crashes by ARI, BUET shows that pedestrians are the primary victims of crashes. The WHO also mentioned that pedestrians accounted for more than half (54%) of all road crash victims in Bangladesh, which is higher than the global average.
In Bangladesh, a majority of victims of accidents on rural roads are children. Various studies reflect that children between the ages of one and 15 years are the most vulnerable group in rural road accidents, accounting for approximately 44% of all pedestrian casualties on rural roads. Among them, children in the age group of six to 10 years (23%) were the most vulnerable.
The 5 E's are vital for road safety: Engineering, Enforcement, Education, Encouragement, and Evaluation. In addition, safe roads for commuters, safe vehicles, and safe speed management are identified as major aspects to ensure road safety.
Under the purview of LGED mandate, 2 E's, i.e., engineering solutions and raising awareness of commuters and drivers, are fitted. Traffic fatalities link to exceeding speed limits, reckless driving, inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, poor safety standards, and awareness of pedestrians and drivers in using roads.
On road safety, a milestone has been set in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.6 aspiring to reduce traffic fatalities by 50% by 2030. The Rural Roads & Structure Maintenance Policy 2013 delegates responsibility to LGED to address road safety issues on rural roads. The National Road Safety Strategic Action Plan (NRSAP-2021-2024) outlines the tasks and duties of relevant government agencies, including LGED, to ensure effective implementation of the plan.
The National Road Safety Council establishes a road safety unit sub-committee convened by LGED. In addition, in the 8th FYP (2021-2025), road safety issues are prioritised through improving road safety engineering at the junctions of LGED roads with National Highways in the selected 8,000 km union roads.
Recently, the Global Road Safety Facilities (GRSF) provided support to the World Bank to prepare the Rural Road Safety Action Plan 2023-2030 for LGED. For this purpose, the World Bank critically assessed the institutional capacity of LGED to address the road safety agenda. The action plan provides a unique perspective to set guiding principles and a specific action plan for LGED.
The action plan includes developing the institutional capacity of LGED, infrastructural safety, speed management, motorcycle helmets, rural vehicle safety, and data, demonstration, knowledge & reporting aiming at maximising benefits on the ground. LGED outlined a strategy to develop a road safety cell and prepared road safety tools comprising Road Safety Manual (RSM), Road Safety Audit Manual (RASM), and Road Safety Works Design Templates. ARI, BUET provided technical support.
The tools provide guidelines for integrating safety engineering into the design and contract documents. The RSAM outlines to identify safety deficiencies on the roads and risks causing crashes. To enhance the capacity of engineers to address road safety standards in the designs, training is imparted.
Finally, to raise awareness, LGED recently implemented a road safety awareness campaign in different parts of the country with the support of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The Second Rural Transport Improvement Project and the Rural Connectivity Improvement Project of LGED implement the campaign subsequently. The key enablers of the campaign were community participation, partnership, research, and coordination. LGED works robustly to promote the road safety agenda. We believe every life matters on the roads.
The author is the Chief Engineer of LGED.
