Road Safety: Still a Long Way to go

 

According to the World Health Organization, about 1.3 million people worldwide die in road accidents each year. Death processions on the road have become a daily occurrence in Bangladesh as well. Despite widespread student protests in 2020 demanding safer roads, the situation has not changed dramatically. But the lives that are lost in these road accidents, what is the real value of their lives? Or what is the financial value of the suffering of those who have been paralyzed for life? Many people will not want to do this calculation in terms of money. However, the total amount of money lost in a road accident has been calculated in a government survey in Bangladesh.

As we know, the most common reasons behind the increase are faulty vehicles, reckless driving, tailgating, non-implementation of traffic laws, etc. But these are merely symptoms of the disease that is the lack of seriousness of the authorities to ensure road safety. Since its formation in October 2019, the aforementioned task force has been mulling over the same nine decisions over and over again, with only one decision-to appoint a focal person from four ministries concerned to oversee the implementation of the other decisions-being fully implemented so far. Surely we would have seen some improvement in terms of road safety if the task force had been proactive and swift as they were meant to be?

Every year an average of 5 to 6 thousand people die in road accidents in the country. According to the Road Safety Foundation, a total of 5,381 road accidents have occurred across the country in 2021. At least 6,264 people were killed. 6 thousand 46 people were injured. Of these, 2,006 motorcycle accidents have taken place. It killed 2,214 people, which is 35.23 percent of the total deaths in road accidents. Besides, 1,523 pedestrians were killed in road accidents during the year, which is 24.23 percent of the total deaths.

Life is invaluable, it is not possible to find out the value of life, but there are some special people whose untimely death has caused irreparable damage to the country. A doctor, a teacher, an engineer, a businessman, or a celebrity who has contributed to the development of the country by becoming bright stars in various fields, it is not just a matter of time, it is not possible to fill the void created by the death of one of them. The death of a talented and immensely promising student, who will lead the country in the future, also hinders the progress of the country. The death of a worker also hurts the country's economy. Almost every day, working-class and special class people engaged in the productive sector are dying in road accidents in some parts of the country. The death toll has risen to such an abnormal rate that it has become a sign of concern as well as for the country's economy and progress.

The question is why it is not possible to reduce the number of road accidents and deaths despite knowing it and why it is increasing every year. The human and economic toll of road accidents is huge, which is also difficult to diagnose. As one can see, a significant portion of those who die in road accidents is the sole bread-earners of the family. These families sit on the side of the road. Many of the injured also lost performance. As a result, their families are also in danger. Accidentally damaged vehicles are no longer useful. The financial loss is irreparable. The biggest thing is, there is nothing more precious than life, road accidents take away that life, the number of which is increasing every year. To reduce the number of accidents, comply with traffic signals, avoid parking as much as possible, stop hazardous overtaking, include road safety in the school curriculum, raise awareness through media, train for skill development of the drivers, upgrade main roads to highways and eliminate road bends.

Since the main cause of road accidents is driver incompetence and competitive attitude, it is important to ensure proper training of drivers and adequate knowledge of traffic laws. At the same time, human values and patience must be taught. Lack of vigilance and awareness is one of the major causes of accidents and deaths, so steps should be taken to make pedestrians, passengers and drivers aware. Publicity in the media should be arranged in such a way that everyone can get an idea about traffic laws.

Pedestrians and passengers in particular need to be more aware and responsible. If they are aware, the chances of accidents will be reduced by about half. Effective enforcement of the law can play an important role in reducing road accidents. Sad to say, there are laws but their proper implementation is not so in practice.

The total roads in the country are 21 thousand 595.49 kilometers. National highways are 3,906 and regional highways are 4,482.54 kilometers. 13 thousand 206.923 kilometers of district roads. Of these, 1,072 km of roads have been identified as 'extremely dangerous.

According to BRTA data, till February this year, the number of vehicles registered in the country is 51 lakh 10 thousand 7. The number of buses is 49 thousand. Minibusses are more than 26 thousand. Microbus one lakh 9 thousand. About four lakh private cars. Taxi 36 thousand. One lakh 44 thousand trucks. Pickup about one and a half lakh.

The Department of Roads and Highways, Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, in a survey conducted in 2016-17, has taken this picture from the economic loss, medical expenses, cost of living, loss of vehicle and administrative and all other accounts of a working person who was the victim of an accident. In all, a fatal road accident has caused an economic loss of around BDT 5 million. However, in the case of a fatal accident, the loss is about around 5 lac in the case of a general accident.

Road accidents are one of the alarming issues for developing countries like Bangladesh. The accidents affect both human and economic status. A cost estimation model has been performed by the Human Capital method. Historical accident data was collected from the Accident Research Institute (ARI), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Every year about 3,500 people die and 2,650 get injured in road accidents. The estimated total cost of accidents in the year 2020 is about 4,118 million USD (BDT 35,001 crore) which constitutes 1.3% of the total Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of Bangladesh. The average loss per road accident (in BDT) is 49 lakh 69 thousand total amount of loss in a fatal road accident.

Economic loss of a working person, the government study shows that the average economic loss as a result of the death of a working person in a road accident is BDT 24,72,108. In case of severe injury, the average financial loss is 21,098. However, in the case of a normal accident, it is only 1,596 BDT.
 In most accident analyzes; the damage is calculated by surveying the victims or calculating their average salary. However, the average income for motor vehicle users has been calculated based on the Travel Time Cost (TTC) survey of the Bangladesh Road Research Laboratory (BRRL). According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2015-16), the average income of pedestrians alone is estimated at BDT 9,550 per capita. Researchers say they have calculated the average age of accident victims from their samples to give an idea of what their average lifetime income will be. The amount of financial loss is calculated based on the number of years lost due to the accident.

On the other hand, in the case of the injured, the financial loss for those few days has been calculated by multiplying his daily income by the length of time a person has to stay away from work after the accident. In developing countries, severe injuries take up to 30 days to heal and minor injuries take up to two days, the report said. The costs of treating road accident victims include - first aid and rescue operations, hospital meals, beds, operations, X-rays, medicines, doctor's fees and subsequent rehabilitation costs. However, in Bangladesh, the injured in road accidents are rarely given ambulance service or first aid - in most cases, they are taken to a medical center or home on their initiative. Those who were killed on the spot, their bodies were transported by the police. On the other hand, it is considered quite difficult to find out the cost of hospitalization.

 This is because, in the case of critically injured, 10 days is calculated in the case of hospitalized patients and two days in the case of non-hospitalized patients. The government has set the safe speed limit on highways at 80km per hour as per geometric design standards. But as our highways are not free from local frictions like roadside markets, shops and informal vehicles speed should not be more than 60km/h. But, most drivers of both heavy and light vehicles ply their vehicles with a speed in the range of 100-120km per hour on the highway as currently there is no field mechanism to detect and punish the speed limit violators. 38% of road accidents take place due to careless driving as most drivers are neither trained properly nor given proper rest in addition to their disobeying attitude towards traffic rules.

As per the global practice, no one should drive more than four hours without a break. Every driver should take a one-hour rest after driving for four hours. But drivers here do two-shift duties a day and drive three to four days consecutively taking inadequate rest. That is why they lose concentration while driving, causing fatal accidents. To solve the problems Radar Speed-enforcement Camera can be installed in every one or two kilometers of the national highways and other important city and regional roads.

This camera will be able to sensor the speed and number plate of vehicles even amid dense fog. Those who will violate the speed limit and traffic rules can easily be detected and punished automatically by sending fine tickets through SMS or by other digital means, which will help tremendously reduce road crashes. Highway police are unable to play an important role in enforcing the law and checking road accidents for lack of manpower, proper logistics and technological support. Now highway police are being used for security reasons as they mostly check vehicles for recovering drugs or maintaining law and order.

Everybody blames drivers for any accident, but neither the state nor the drivers, workers' associations, and leaders have taken any step or made any investment in providing them training to enhance their skills and sense of responsibility. More than 100 driving schools can be set up across the country to increase the skills of the current drivers and produce capable drivers.

Research of the ARI showed the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth will grow at least 1% additionally if the government can halve the road fatalities as the Tk. 38,000 crore annual accidental loss is about 2% of the current GDP.


Hiren Pandit is a columnist and researcher.