Unmarked speed breakers pose risk for Dinajpur commuters
Absence of adequate traffic markings on 438 kilometre roads under the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Dinajpur district poses risk for thousands of commuters, especially during the foggy weather.
Centre lines, zebra crossings, edge bars, stop bars, direction arrows, lane markings, speed breaker markings and parking lines play an important role in the regulation of traffic but the road markings frequently fade away due to heavy traffic rush.
The markings need frequent re-painting to ensure their visibility, especially during night and foggy weather, but the RHD authorities are not paying due attention, said vehicle operators and owners.
Md Mozibor Rahman, general secretary of Dinajpur Transports Workers Association, said it is true that the traffic markings do not last long due to heavy traffic rush in the district but it is duty of the RHD to ensure visibility of the road markings that have faded away.
These markings, classified as longitudinal, transverse, object markings and word messages, are meant to guide and control the flow of traffic on highways and supplement functions of traffic signs.
Over the years, the number of speed breakers see a gradual increase but most of them are unlit and without reflectors. There are no warning signboards in most cases.
Recently a number of illegally set speed-breakers, raised by villagers without markings, have become a nuisance for drivers and commuters. Instead of preventing over-speeding, these illegal structures have become a major cause of accidents, especially at night during the foggy winter.
As speeding vehicles passing through these villages often hit children and farm animals, villagers started erecting steep speed breakers on their own on different roads.
The mushrooming of educational institutions along the highways has also led to an increase in the number of speed breakers in recent years, but absence of marks often cause accidents.
When contacted over phone, Md Abu Etesham Rashed, executive engineer of Dinajpur RHD, said, "We regularly repaint the road markings but they disappear due to heavy traffic rush."
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