FEARS of fatal road accidents come up every time Eid is celebrated as a huge number of people move out of cities and big town to spend the holiday with family and friends in outlying areas and move back to the places where they live and work after the festival. Reports show that this time at least 33 people died and more than 50 became injured in road accidents around Eid in four days beginning on April 21. Twenty-one of the accidents are reported to have involved motorcycles which left at least 22 people dead. The figures suggest that motorcycles account for about 66 per cent of the accidents that happened during the Eid holiday. And, this lends to the perception of experts that the government should put in more efforts to discipline motorcycles running on highways. Nine of the 12 motorcycle accidents are reported to have taken place on April 22, the Eid day. This tends to suggest that motorcyclists need to be trained in road regulations. In one event, two passengers and the assistant of a driver became injured when a state-owned BRTC bus bumped against the railings on the Dhaka–Bhanga Expressway in Munshiganj on April 23.

While the Eid-time travel rush was not that mad this time, perhaps because of the deployment of traffic personnel at critical points on the highways, the fatalities in road accidents still appear high. The accidents that took place suggests that the government badly needs to attend to some issues so far left neglected amidst warnings that road transport experts have frequently sounded. There are some structural problems such as dangerous bends, inadequate lighting and not enough traffic signposts along the highways. There is also an absence of adequate training of drivers, especially the people who drive motorcycles and buses. Rash driving still remains a concern not only for long-distance travels but also travels within cities and towns as roads remain mostly deserted around Eid, prompting the drivers to over-speed and even to playfully compete with other vehicles. An increased number of small, snow-moving vehicles such as motorcycles, electric three-wheelers and utility vehicles modified to ferry people running on national highways entails a greater risk, often causing accidents, of bumping into or being rammed from behind by big, fast-moving vehicles such as buses and lorries. Such a proposition causes a greater number of accidents, with associated injuries and fatalities.

The government must, in such a situation, work on multiple fronts, especially at a time when highways face an increased number of vehicles, to minimise the chance for fatal accidents and to keep roads safe.