DMP urges to strengthen enforcement of traffic laws, speed limits

Road safety experts and senior police officials on Wednesday stressed the need for stronger enforcement of traffic laws and speed limit guidelines to reduce road crashes and improve safety on Dhaka's roads.

They made the remarks at a day-long training programme titled “Speed as a Risk Factor”, jointly organised by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) at a hotel in the capital.

The training was organised under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) programme to enhance the capacity of police officers in implementing speed limit guidelines in Dhaka.

Speaking at the event, Md Anisur Rahman, additional commissioner (Traffic) of DMP, called on traffic police to remain vigilant in enforcing traffic laws and speed limit regulations.

He also stressed the importance of keeping the left lane operational, preventing wrong-way driving and ensuring that vehicles do not stop outside designated areas.

He said measures will soon be taken to ban battery-run rickshaws from major roads, remove unfit vehicles older than 20 years, curb random roadside parking and introduce a GPS-based monitoring system for vehicles to improve Dhaka's traffic management.

The event was chaired by BIGRS Coordinator Md Abdul Wadud.

Among others, ASM Shamsur Rahman Bhuiyan, joint commissioner of DMP (Traffic-Dhaka North); Mina Mahmuda, deputy police commissioner (Traffic-Administration, Planning and Research); and Peter Jones, senior road policing adviser at GRSP, addressed the programme.

In his speech, Abdul Wadud highlighted the activities of BIGRS and its partners in Dhaka and emphasised the implementation of the Motor Vehicle Speed Limit Guideline 2024 to reduce deaths and injuries caused by road crashes.

He said effective implementation of the guideline requires coordination among relevant stakeholders, identification of accident-prone black spots through data collection, improved road infrastructure, extensive public awareness campaigns and strict law enforcement.

The training was coordinated by BIGRS-Dhaka Enforcement Coordinator Golam Hossain.

Additional Chief Engineer of DNCC Khondoker Mahbub Alam, Vital Strategies Technical Adviser Aminul Islam Sujon, World Resources Institute Consultant Farzana Islam Toma, BIGRS Transport Coordinator Rezaur Rahman, BIGRS Surveillance Coordinator Dr Tanvir Ibn Ali and Additional Deputy Police Commissioner (Tejgaon) Tania Sultana, among others, were present.