Three people were killed as a truck hit a motorcycle on Satkhira-Khulna highway in Satkhira Sadar upazila on Thursday. Police confirmed the incident that a truck rammed a motorbike in Binerpota BSCIC area, leaving its driver and two pillion passengers dead on the spot.
This is not new, the death toll on road by motorcycle accidents is increasing alarmingly. Last September, 361 people were killed in road accidents across the country. Among them, 105 people lost their lives in motorcycle accidents.
22.64% of accidents in September, 21.11% in August, 17.76% in July, 20.73% in June, and 20.96% in May occurred by Motorcycle accidents.
Moreover, 132 of the 583 accidents that occurred in that month were on motorcycles. Two-wheelers are at the top in accidents and fatalities. This information is known from Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) sources.
According to relevant sources, motorcycles are responsible for the most accidents and fatalities as a single vehicle. Not only accidents and loss of life, motorcycles are also playing a major role in the chaos on the roads.
Transport experts feel that road infrastructure of Bangladesh is not very suitable for vehicles like motorcycles. The quality of roads and highways in the country is bad. Chaos due to managerial weakness is a daily occurrence. Various vehicles ply on same roads. There is an overabundance of pedestrians even. A four-wheel vehicle has airbag to handle some of the unexpected situations in such a road environment. But it is difficult to handle this pressure in case of two-wheeled motorcycle.
According to sources, currently there are 61 lakh 75 thousand motor vehicles registered in the country. Among them, the number of motorcycles is more than 45 lakh. BRTA has registered more than 1 lakh 89 thousand motorcycles between January and September this year which is 85 percent of the total motor vehicles registered at the same time.
Moreover, in October 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs approved the movement of motorcycles with an engine capacity of up to 350 cc in Bangladesh in the condition of domestic made. Experts believe that the decision to allow the high-powered vehicle to be marketed and ply on the road is suicidal because high-powered motorcycles have a kind of craziness, a sense of over-speed. This feeling makes people crazy about speeding up. That madness not only puts the motorcyclist or rider at risk, but also puts pedestrians or other vehicle occupants at risk on the streets.
Sources also said that the rationale of using motorcycles as an alternative vehicle to avoid traffic jams is often highlighted. But high-powered motorcycles are not an option to avoid traffic jams, they are death traps. 35 percent of the accidents that occur are motorcycle riders. And there are no statistics on how many accidents and fatalities are taking place while trying to save the motorcycle.
Meanwhile, according to the data of the voluntary organization Road Safety Foundation, 6 thousand 524 people were killed in road accidents in the country in 2023. Among them, 2 thousand 487 people died in motorcycle accidents, which is 38.12 percent of the total deaths in accidents. 71 percent of the total motor vehicles in the country are motorcycles. And the majority of the drivers of these vehicles are teenagers and young people.
Due to the tendency of not knowing and obeying traffic laws among them, motorcycle accidents are continuously increasing in the country. In such a reality, the government should not take any steps that encourage the use of motorcycles. Because motorcycles are 30 times more dangerous than any four-wheeled vehicle. The message used by motorcycle companies in advertising these days is very exciting. Through these, teenagers are encouraged to ride motorcycles recklessly. It is important for the government to focus on public transport rather than promoting motorcycles.
Professor Dr Hadiuzzaman, former director accident research institute of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), said that the more the number of motorcycles, the more the number of accidents in the vehicle will increase; it has been tested in every country. The same picture is seen in Bangladesh. Japan has reduced the number of motorcycles to reduce accidents. In the last decade, about 25 lakh motorcycles have been reduced in Japan. They also got results; accidents were reduced by half. And Bangladesh is walking in opposite direction. The number of motorcycles here has long gone out of control. If it is not possible to control this number now, the situation will become direr.
ZH
