Speakers at a roundtable on Saturday called for a Comprehensive Road Safety Law in Bangladesh to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN’s Global Plans to reduce casualties from road accidents by half.
They made the call at the roundtable on “Road Safety Law: Bangladesh Perspectives” organised by Road Safety Coalition Bangladesh at Hotel Intercontinental, Dhaka.
Mentioning road crashes as one of the main causes of deaths and injuries in Bangladesh and a major burden on health and economy of the country, they observed.
Bangladesh must significantly reduce this toll of deaths and injuries from the road mishaps.
In this regard, a strong policy and necessary legal frameworks are needed as the country lacks dedicated legislation that will comprehensively address road safety measures, they opined.
Read: 394 lives lost on roads across the country in Sept: Road Safety Foundation
According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), 3727 people were killed and 5781 injured in 4016 road crashes in the country from this year’s January to September. But these deaths are preventable.
They said the road safety issue should also be prioritised with the highest importance along with developed infrastructures on roads.
The speakers mentioned that developed countries have framed their legal and policy frameworks in the light of a safe system approach to achieve safer roads.
But Bangladesh is far away in this context, In recent years, the Safe Roads Project in collaboration with the World Bank has started using the Safe Systems Approach.
Welcoming science-based efforts, they called for a separate legal framework for safe roads in the light of the Safe System Approach and an individual law will provide the necessary legal basis for all government departments and ministries concerned with safe roads.
Read: 378 people die in 403 road accidents in August: Road Safety Foundation
They said ensuring road safety is not only a work of a ministry or a department, it requires the active participation of government departments and ministries in managing the issue. Road Safety Law is a must to facilitate effective action by all ministries, government departments and stakeholders.
They said the comprehensive law must include evidence-based road safety measures in light of the Safe System Approach following five steps recommended in the Global Plan. These are multi-modal transportation, safe road infrastructure, post-crash response and safe road use.
The law must also include evidence-based measures for five key behavioural risk factors reflecting global best practices, they also said.
Road Safety Coalition Bangladesh also offers technical inputs and expertise from local and international sources in the process of enacting the proposed comprehensive road safety law to ensure global best practice.
Read more: 516 deaths in 559 road accidents in June: Road Safety Foundation
Brac’s Road Safety Director Nazmul Hossain presided over the discussion while Nirapad Sarak Chai Chairman Ilias Kanchan, DBC TV’s CEO Manzurul Islam Bulbul, Executive Editor of Amader Shomoy Mainul Alam, Chief news Editor of News24 Shanaz Munni, assignment Editor of BTV Enamul Haque, Director of NITOR M. Shamimuzzaman, General Secretary of Orthopedic Society Jahangir Alam, BUET Prof Mahbubur Rahman Talukder and Senior News Editor of Bangla Vision Ruhul Amin Md. Rushd, among others, spoke at the programme.