Interim government admits failure to curb road crashes

The interim government has admitted its failure to reduce road crashes and deaths last year, said Road Transport and Bridges Ministry Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan yesterday.

The ministry will take several steps to curb the road crashes and death, he told reporters after attending two meetings in this regard at the headquarters of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).

The adviser shared that the Road Safety Foundation recently gave them data that 7,294 people were killed and over 12,000 were injured in road crashes last year. The number of deaths was 12 percent more than in 2023.

"We, the interim government, are taking responsibility for it, that we could not reduce the number of road crashes and deaths. Rather it increased," he said.

In particular, BRTA and police are taking the responsibility for it, he added. 

The interim government took charge on August 8, 2024 last year after the fall of the Awami League government following a student-led people's uprising.

The adviser also said they have taken a decision to hand over compensation for the treatment of the injured as soon as possible following the relevant laws. Additionally, BRTA officials will be made directly responsible for road crashes that occured due to lack of a vehicle's fitness and license issues of a driver.

Replying to a question, he said other agencies like Roads and Highways Department will also be responsible if road crashes occur due to their failure or negligence.

He also said owners of the vehicles which lack fitness clearance or have drivers without updated licenses will be notified twice to update their documents. If they fail to do this within the stipulated time, licences and fitness certificates will be revoked.

"In December, we gave BRTA one months time to improve their services or face action. They have improved a little bit, but not to a satisfactory level yet," he remarked.

"We will shut BRTA down if it fails to improve its services," he added.

Chiefs of various government agencies, leaders of transport organisations, road safety campaigners, and police officials all took part in the meetings.