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872 Why unsafe and vulnerable highway in Bangladesh?
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  1. Soyab Ali
  1. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Bangladesh Trainer on Defensive Driving and Occupational Safety

Abstract

Background Safe Highway is a multifunctional issue and requires more attention to reduce the ever increasing of road crashes and accidents. Vehicles using National and Regional Highways (NRH) in Bangladesh have a wide variation in operating characteristics with a combination of motorised and non-motorised form of transports such as farm tractors, animal carts; tricycles taxies (Rickshaw) which share the same road of first moving motorize traffic. There are thousands of roadside markets and other infrastructures which dangerous and threat In addition extensive practices of pedestrians Jaywalking and illegal road crossing by foot due to lack of overhead crossing often contribute to cause. Pedestrian activity is also high in these stretches. Considering all these in mind and to make the Highways safer, we have to take integral program combining the every component responsible for safety issue.

Methods Use Police HQ MAPS data/Accident Research Centre (ARC) library and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) annual report, 2014-15 and newspaper cutting.

Results Road worthy vehicles can reduce accidents & congestion in great number. Chaotic traffic movement and congestion on road are very common in Bangladesh is rated 15 one of the high risk country in the world. There are thousands of roadside markets and other infrastructures which dangerous and threat. As a cost on an average 12–14 people killed every day and annually 4200 on and average which affect 1.8% of GDP.

Cars, buses and trucks frequently drive at high speed without headlights illuminated or on full beam. Drivers overtake other vehicles at inappropriate moments and causes head-on collisions.

Conclusions We need to educate the citizens, require strong political commitment from government and provide proper facilities to avoid road accident and loss of life by traffic crash.

Components in Highways there are about 3886 km National Highway and 1751 km Regional Highway in our country owned by Roads and Highways Division-RHD. There are few Highways in Bangladesh, which cover International Standard. Only recently build few Highways only fulfilled few criteria of international quality

Mix Traffic using highways and local made poor standard vehicle like local made nonnotarized transport, Human Pulling Rickshaw, Bicycle, horse and bull carts.

Roadside Markets like shops, village market, Hawkers, workshops, mosque and schools

Other infrastructure bi-lane, shoulder, road makings, median road signs, uneven surface, straight sub-lane, small shoulder and without road shoulder, muddy side road, poor design of median, poor road markings, poor road signs are common phenomenon of our existing highways.

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