Road Safety: Maladies every step of the way

The entire road transport sector has long been plagued by multifaceted problems, which are worsening every day amid sheer apathy from the authorities responsible for ensuring road safety.

Two major back-to-back crashes, which took away 28 lives in last two days, are yet another manifestation of these deep-rooted problems.

When it comes to the drivers of commercial vehicles, they do not just lack formal training, they are overworked.

A large number of the vehicles are unregistered and lack mandatory fitness scans, while the fitness clearances of many are questionable.

Meanwhile, safety audit is not done on most roads, while a large number of them are in poor condition and riddled with accident-prone spots. Illegal roadside structures increase the vulnerability of the roads.

The weakness of the regulatory authority and other relevant bodies tasked with enforcing laws and procedures only compounded the situation.

They not only face a shortage of capacity and manpower, but many of their  officials remain involved in corrupt practices, perpetuating anarchy on the roads.

Meanwhile, some vested quarters, who have been benefitting from this situation, want to maintain the status quo for their own interests.

The Daily Star has come to this conclusion after speaking to over a dozen experts, road safety campaigners, transport leaders and officials of the government agencies concerned.

“We’ll not be able to rid ourselves of this situation unless revolutionary steps involving political leaderships are initiated immediately. If we fail to do so, things will keep going downhill,” Prof Moazzem Hossain, former director of the Accident Research Institute at Buet, told this correspondent yesterday.

On Tuesday, 14 people, including five of a family, were killed in a road crash in Faridpur. The bus involved had no route permit, fitness clearance or tax token, while the pickup it collided with was carrying passengers illegally.

Yesterday, 14 others were killed in a road crash in Jhalakathi when a truck ploughed through several vehicles.

The driver of the truck had no valid licence.

ROOTS OF THE PROBLEMS

Almost all drivers of commercial vehicles do not receive any formal training and instead learn driving from their seniors.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) provides a one-day refresher training to professional drivers and renew licences every five years, which is deemed insufficient. Many drivers receive licences without giving tests properly, while some do not have valid licences at all.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in June 2018 directed the authorities concerned to ban driving for more than five consecutive hours on highways. Her directive went largely ignored.

Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, Osman Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation, said, “Most of the drivers are overworked.

“They have to drive for eight to 10 hours at a stretch, in many cases amid congestion, resulting in a loss of concentration. This in turn leads to road accidents … The government isn’t investing enough for the drivers but often blame them for the accidents without proper investigations. The situation won’t improve this way.”

Besides, many drivers have eye problems, which can compromise safety on the roads, but there are no facilities to look after their health.

Meanwhile, the number of registered vehicles without fitness clearances has been rising over the years.

Till April 15, 6.17 lakh vehicles did not go through the mandatory fitness tests. The number was 4.79 lakh in July 2019.

On the other hand, the quality of the clearance given by the BRTA remains questionable.

The agency has only one vehicle inspection machine, meaning most of the vehicles are tested manually. With around 140 inspectors, it is almost impossible to have all the vehicles thoroughly checked.

As the government is yet to enforce the economic life set for commercial vehicles, thousands of outdated vehicles are operating on the roads.

BRTA data shows there are 35,782 registered buses over 20 years old, and 37,275 trucks and lorries aged over 25.

Unlicensed drivers are operating tens of thousands of unregistered vehicles, including three-wheelers and locally-made Nosimon and Korimon, across the country. The authorities concerned, on the other hand, have no clue about the fitness statuses of such vehicles.

Local political leaders, in collusion with a section of law enforcers and transport associations, have been allowing these illegal vehicles to run on the roads.

The Roads and Highways Department has conducted safety audits on only 1,055km of roads, which means over 95 percent of its 22,476km road network has never been audited.

These audits are a systematic, formal and thorough assessment that identify potential risks on existing or planned roads and recommend measures aimed at reducing accidents.

At least 2,152km or 10.48 percent of the 20,523km of surveyed roads under the RHD were in “poor, bad, or very bad” conditions, according to an RHD survey published in June last year.

The BRTA, highway police and traffic police are responsible for enforcement of traffic laws. But all of them are understaffed.

The BRTA has 19 posts for executive magistrates, who carry out mobile court drives. Eleven of the posts are currently vacant. In some cases, executive magistrates of district administrations had to conduct mobile courts against errant vehicles and drivers.

Highway police mainly covers the national highways, which make up a small portion of the country’s total road network. This means most of the roads remain unchecked.

On the other hand, traffic police are mostly deployed in city corporations and district headquarters and there is scarcity in their numbers.

The main problem, however, is that many transport owners and workers believe obtaining valid documents from the BRTA is unnecessary as they can easily run their vehicles by paying bribes.

Many unlicensed drivers operate unfit vehicles by paying monthly bribes to a section of crooked law enforcers and political leaders who hold sway over the transport sector, insiders said.

Moshiur Rahman Ranga, president of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said many unfit vehicles are operating right under the noses of the authorities.

“No action is taken against them, which is worsening the road safety situation,” he told The Daily Star last night.

Prof Moazzem said most of the drivers of commercial and small vehicles do not have any formal training. They also lack the sense of responsibility, which usually develops during training.

“So, an anarchic driving culture prevails on the roads, which is deteriorating every day due to a lack of effective enforcement of the law.

“After any major road crash, you’ll see the vehicles or drivers involved did not have valid documents. Who do they pay to operate these vehicles?” he asked.

“Given all these facts, the roads are very unsafe. It’s like an atom bomb,” he said, adding that vehicle speed is increasing with the improvement of roads, meaning the situation will keep worsening until revolutionary steps are taken.

Osman Ali recommended enhanced monitoring, enforcement of law and adequate training for the drivers, while Ranga said restricting the operation of unfit and illegal vehicles can be a major step towards reducing road crashes.

Contacted, ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, did not comment on the overall situation. However, he said they would investigate the two major road crashes that took place recently and take action against those involved.