Rabiul pledges to halve road accident deaths by 2030

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam has pledged to halve the number of deaths from road accidents in the country by 2030.

“The government is working in a coordinated manner to ensure road safety. To achieve this goal, emphasis is being placed on driver training, ensuring vehicle fitness, raising public awareness, controlling excessive speeds, encouraging helmet use and ensuring prompt medical treatment after accidents,” he said.

The minister said this while inaugurating a programme to provide ambulances to assist in post-accident rescue operations at the Roads and Highways Department headquarters in Tejgaon in the capital on Monday, said a press release.

Referring to World Bank financing for the road safety project, he said various initiatives have been taken to ensure road safety with assistance from the Bangladesh government and the World Bank. Government funding is also involved in implementing the project, he added.

He said money spent on such projects, which are funded with public money, must be used properly to ensure visible results in establishing safer roads. Road accidents are an extremely alarming issue in Bangladesh. Around 5,000 people are killed in road accidents every year, he added.

Referring to data showing that more than 5,000 people died in road accidents in 2024, he said countless lives are being lost on the country’s roads every day. “This situation cannot be accepted in any way,” he said.

The minister said ensuring road safety is not the responsibility of a single ministry. Several ministries and government agencies are directly involved. The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges is responsible for constructing, repairing and maintaining roads and keeping them suitable for vehicular movement. It is also responsible for vehicle approval and related activities, he added.

He said the highway police under the Ministry of Home Affairs are responsible for regulating vehicular movement and enforcing laws on the roads. The Ministry of Health, meanwhile, has an important role in ensuring prompt medical treatment for those injured in accidents, he added.

He said these three ministries must work in coordination to establish safe roads. Simply constructing or repairing roads will not make them safe. Vehicles, drivers, pedestrians, traffic management, and post-accident rescue and medical services must all be addressed in an integrated manner, he added.

Highlighting several major causes of road accidents, Rabiul said unfit vehicles, unskilled or unsuitable drivers, lack of public awareness, uncontrolled and excessive speed, and reluctance to wear helmets are among the major causes of road accidents.

“Effective measures are needed to eliminate these causes,” he said, adding that drivers need proper knowledge and training on how to drive according to traffic rules on highways and roads and what decisions to make in different situations.

He said arrangements have been made for driver training under the road safety project. At the same time, an initiative has been taken to assess whether drivers are physically fit to operate vehicles, he added.

He expressed hope that ensuring trained and physically capable drivers would play an important role in reducing accidents.

Stressing the importance of pedestrian awareness, he said many markets, schools and colleges are located alongside highways. In these areas, people often cross roads according to their convenience instead of using designated crossing points or overpasses.

He said many people are unwilling to use overpasses or other safe crossing facilities even when they are available beside roads. This mindset needs to change. Alongside infrastructural development, public awareness must be increased to improve road safety, he added.

Describing uncontrolled speed as one of the major causes of road accidents, he said excessive speed must be controlled. At the same time, helmet use among motorcycle riders must be ensured. Both drivers and pedestrians must follow road rules, he said.

The minister said the government has taken an initiative to formulate a comprehensive Safe Road Law to ensure road safety. The target is to enact a comprehensive or integrated Safe Road Law by December 2027. Through this, an initiative will be taken to bring various aspects of road safety under an effective legal framework, he added.

He also said the government is working on the designated service life of vehicles. The service life of buses has been set at 20 years and that of trucks at 25 years.

Rabiul said the policy for vehicle scrapping and recycling has been finalised, and steps are being taken to implement it. Dumping stations are also being established. Unfit vehicles will be taken to these facilities for scrapping and recycling, he added.

He stressed the importance of ensuring prompt rescue and medical services after road accidents.

He said fatalities could be reduced significantly if injured people are taken to medical centres quickly after an accident.

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Highlighting the effectiveness of bike ambulances, the minister said motorcycles equipped with necessary medical supplies have been arranged to reach accident sites quickly and provide first aid. In congested or remote areas, where conventional ambulances take time to arrive, bike ambulances will be able to reach the scene more quickly and provide initial medical treatment, he added.

Calling on all concerned to become more active on road safety, Sheikh Rabiul Alam said it would not be enough to hold discussions at meetings, seminars or auditoriums. The message of road safety must reach ordinary people. People involved in the transport sector, drivers, workers, pedestrians and relevant government agencies must work together, he added.

The minister said halving the number of deaths from road accidents by 2030 is one of the government’s key commitments. If this goal can be achieved, the initiatives taken for road safety will be successful, he added.

He said, “Our responsibility is to establish safe roads. The commitment to halve road accident deaths by 2030 must be implemented. For this, all concerned ministries, agencies and stakeholders must work together.”

Officials from the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges and relevant ministries, World Bank representatives, Highway Police, representatives of the transport sector, and representatives of various individuals and organisations working on road safety attended the event.