The roads in the capital city of Dhaka are not safe for people, especially for the students and children. The death of students on the city roads is increasing day by day.
According to a study, at least 1,128 children were killed in road crashes across the county in 2023. The report was prepared based on information collected from the newspapers. The number of deaths would be is higher as many were not reported in the media.
As per the study, more than three children died on roads every day. Some 43 per cent of the children were aged between six to 12 years and 37 per cent aged between 13 to 18 years.
Children fall victim to road crashes mainly on their way to their educational institutions or while returning home on foot.
The capital city witnesses the highest number of child death on roads. Some 16 per cent of the people who died in road crashes in the country last year were students. However, this rate is 40 per cent in Dhaka city. Students’ casualty rate in the capital is two and a half times higher than other parts of the country.
In 2022, students accounted for 16 per cent of the total road crash deaths across the country. In the case of the capital, which was 39 per cent.
The question has been raised as to why the death of students in road crashes in the capital has increased more than before.
Through analysing road crash data between 2019 and 2020, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) produced a report ‘Road Safety Situation in Dhaka’. This report shows that 66 per cent of the crash fatalities were pedestrians, and 17 per cent were motorcyclists. The report identified six high risk locations in DNCC area.
Dr. Tanvir Ibne Ali, surveillance coordinator of BIGRS, Dhaka North said the findings emphasise the necessity for evidence-based, targeted and system-wide road safety interventions in Dhaka, especially for the most vulnerable groups such as pedestrians.
According to a BUET study, 80 per cent of students in the capital live within a 15-minute walking distance from school. Most of them go to school on foot or by public transport, while 4 per cent use private cars.
The historic Road Safety Movement took place in 2018 following the deaths of two school students on Airport Road in Dhaka city by a speeding bus. Six years elapsed, road safety for students remains a grave concern in the city despite a law was enacted following the 2018 movement.
Md Mahin Ahmed, a seventh grader at Motijheel Government Ideal School, was killed by a speeding vehicle when he was walking on Mugda road in the city on April 25 this year.
Mahin, 13, was the son of Masum Ahmed of Bajitpur upazila in Kishoreganj who used to live with his family in Mugda area. “Our family is suffering untold pain and agony following the loss of my younger brother on the road. We won’t come out from this shocking situation,” said Mahin’s brother Mahfuz Ahmed.
Mahfuz's comment reflects how a road crash can leave a family devastated for a long time.
Like Mahin, many other children and students died on the road every year and every day. Yeasin, the lone child of a couple in Dhaka city, was walking with his friends beside the road on the day of the road crash he faced. He was run over by a three-wheeler.
Khalek Ahmed, father of the 11-year-old child, was not in the country at that time in 2023. He returned after his son’s tragic death. The father faints crying when this correspondent takes Yeasin’s name. Khalek along with his family members is passing days in unbearable pain after losing their child.
Zahid Hasan, a mechanical engineering student at a university in China, faced a tragic road crash just days after he came to the country for a few weeks. He was walking with his elder brother beside the road after getting down from Rampura Bridge U-loop in Dhaka city on the day of the road crash.
He was run over by a speedy bus. When public started chasing the bus, it recklessly entered Hatirjheel road and killed a child there. Zahid died on the way to hospital, while the child died on the spot. The tragic incident took place on July 13 in 2023.
Many other students are left to survive maimed on roads every year, burdening their families. “It would have been better if I died on the road, now I am a burden to my family,” said a disabled youth.
Many said that most of the promises made by the government in 2018 to ensure safe roads have not been achieved. That is why order has not returned on the road. It was expected that the law would play a vital role in preventing road crashes. But the law didn’t address the road safety issue in a comprehensive and consistent manner, rather it focuses only on road transports. Moreover, this law is not implemented well.
Moazzem Hossain, former director of the Accident Research Institute (ARI) in BUET, said the main reason behind child death on roads is the lack of good governance on roads. Awareness is a key factor to prevent child death on the road, he said.
He, however, underscored the urgent need for measures to enhance road safety due to the high number of student deaths.
To prevent such road crash, Aminul Islam Sujon, technical adviser of Vital Strategies, said that alongside strictly enforcing road safety laws, maintaining speed limit, banning unsafe vehicles and infrastructure development, safety measures on roads near educational institutions and raising public awareness about road safety should be ensured.
The children and students face road crashes due to dilapidated condition of roads and sidewalks, poor design of footpaths, lack of zebra crossings and lack of safe walking environment.
Talking to The Bangladesh Post, Abdul Wadud, initiative coordinator at Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), said that the largest proportion of children that fall victim to road crash in Dhaka city are pedestrians. Roads in the city are not safe for pedestrians. However, road crashes are more common in school zones in this city, he added.
Experts on urban street design and urban planning are also of the opinion that besides many other factors, there are design problems in Dhaka city roads. Pedestrians die every day due to this. The lack of infrastructure makes the city road chaotic and unsafe for pedestrians, especially children.
“It is the fact that we could not ensure safe roads. Infrastructure development is a must to keep children safe on the road in Dhaka city as well as across the country,” said Farzana Islam Toma, an architect and urban design expert.
The walkways in Dhaka are unwalkable. These have makeshift food shops, book stalls, tea stalls and living space for the homeless. As a result, pedestrians cannot move properly on the footpaths. They have to walk on the road leaving footpaths.
Roads and transports in Dhaka city are not child friendly. Roads are adjacent to schools or houses in many places. Buildings are not constructed maintaining a safe distance from the roads. “As a result, we are enduring irreparable losses every day. We frequently hear about road accidents in front of educational institutions,” said Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin, secretary of Center for Law and Policy Affairs (CLPA).
Jatrabari, Matuail, Airport Road, Hanif Flyover, Rampur and Badda-Kuril Road are the most crash-prone areas in the capital. Fatal accidents frequently take place in these areas. However, there are many schools and educational institutions along the main road in the areas.
Students and their guardians have to drop their children in front of the educational institutions. It creates security risk as well as traffic jam. Footbridges are built on many roads considering the issue of schools or educational institutions.
Farzana Islam Toma, consultant, road safety & urban transport, Sustainable City Program at World Resources Institute (WRI); thinks that this is not a proper solution. “Zebra crossing is better in this case. Children and the elderly are generally unwilling or unable to climb foot overbridges. As a result, they face road crashes while crossing the road. Design for road and policy changes are essential so that people can smoothly cross the road and walk on the footpath in the city,” she told The Bangladesh Post.
About the poor state of sidewalks, she said that the height of the footpaths in Dhaka city is usually high. If the footpath is occupied or if it is 9/10 inch or 1 foot high, then pedestrians especially children or students will not want to step on it. Sidewalks shall be designed or constructed balancing the footpth with the main road, she opined.
She said that safe design of infrastructures will reduce road crash and fatalities. The authorities concerned should focus on safer design of streets to make a pedestrian friendly environment in this city.
Like Farzana Islam Toma and Aminul Islam Sujan, Abdul Wadud also emphasised on the importance of looking after the interests of pedestrians to make the roads and sidewalks of Dhaka city safe. “The road should not only be widened, but it should be developed by protecting the interests of pedestrians,” said Abdul Wadud.
“Ensuring access to safe schools is a must to save our children,” he also said.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is working to promote multidimensional use of some roads in the city to make the roads safe and comfortable for people like in developed countries.
As part of the initiative, the DNCC with the technical support of BIGRS and WRI has developed road no. 21 of Banani for multi-purpose use for pedestrians, children, students and parents.
Khondoker Mahbub Alam, superintendent engineer (civil), Traffic Engineering Circle at DNCC; said that another road at Mohammadpur is now being developed. “We have undertaken School Zone Project to make the roads around educational institutions safe for pedestrians and students. We have already designed a road in Banani,” he said.
He said that pedestrians are more victims of road crashes in Bangladesh including Dhaka, and the DNCC is working to ensure the safety of pedestrians.
Sk. Md. Mahbub-E-Rabbani, director (road safety) at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), said that Bangladesh faces a shortage of trained drivers which is one of the factors to road crash. He, however, said all the quarters must follow the traffic rules.
Jahangir Alam, a former bus driver who had lost his child in a road crash about six years ago, said that no one wants to obey the law when they go to the road. If the government had taken proper measures, there would have been fear in everyone's mind including the driver. There is no fear in anyone's mind, there is no safety on the road. Only those who have lost a son or daughter in a road crash understand this pain, he added.
Abdul Wadud said that the tendency to obey traffic laws should be increased among the students. They should be trained to obey traffic laws right from school.
Farzana Islam Toma said smaller stature of children can make it difficult to see surrounding traffic or be seen by drivers.
Traffic police is one of the professional groups involved in ensuring road safety. The traffic division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is responsible for regulating vehicular traffic, speed and parking rules, pedestrian and road security.
The traffic police members of DMP have the experience that many children die on the roads. Bacchu Mia, a police inspector and in-charge of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) police outpost, witnesses many bodies killed in road crashes on Dhaka streets every day. “Among them, many are students and children,” he said.
Khandaker Nazmul Hasan, additional commissioner (traffic) at DMP, said that if drivers, passengers and commuters follow traffic rules, death on roads will reduce. “If students learn to obey traffic rules from childhood, it will gradually become a habit. We are now motivating children and adolescents to know about traffic rules,” he said.
“We are deeply concerned about the lack of safety for our children on roads and highways that keep throwing up dead bodies with an alarming frequency. Many sustain injuries that lead to long term disabilities and cause untold suffering in families and communities,” said Ilias Kanchan, fonder and chairman of Nirapad Sarak Chai.
Alongside the road design problem and the occupation of sidewalks, both highways and city roads in Bangladesh are not safer for road users also for high speeding and reckless driving.
Abdul Wadud said lower speed means lower risk of road accidents. He laid emphasis on enforcement of ‘motor vehicle speed limit guidelines 2024’ approved by the government this year. The guidelines will play a vital role in reducing road crashes if it is enforced properly after formulation. This guideline limits speed based on the type of roads and types of vehicles in the whole country including city roads, he said.
