ED: Will we ever have safer roads and highways?

While the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh is undoubtedly the biggest priority for the authorities concerned and deserve their utmost attention, there remain familiar issues that continue to plague the country. 

Among these, ensuring safety on our roads and highways continues to be a problem; earlier this week, five people were killed, and around 20 more severely injured when a bus rammed into a parked truck in Mymensingh on Saturday. Similarly, seven people were killed after a microbus crashed into a roadside ditch in Cox’s Bazar on Sunday.

 These are just a couple of what are multiple daily incidents of accidents on our roads and highways. At the root of such accidents are usually reckless drivers, often without licenses, who should not be operating such vehicles to begin with. 

Yet, these drivers, and even more importantly, those who continue to hire them, often get away with little to no repercussions, adding to this culture of impunity that has become an unfortunate mainstay. Until the authorities concerned are strict with accountability, and until these unscrupulous individuals and companies are subsequently held accountable for their negligence and disregard, it is unlikely that we will see any positive change. 

Yes, we have made significant progress and development as an economy, but what good is this prosperity if we continue to fail to keep our citizens safe, be they from entirely avoidable accidents on our roads and highways, or from the lack of ICU beds and health care facilities when faced with medical emergencies.