MORE than 600,000 registered motor vehicles still running on the road with their fitness certificates not having been updated after they have had repeated bans on their movement is a cause for concern. The Road Transport Authority figures until mid-March show that the number of motor vehicles registered with the agency is 6.296 million whilst 9.7 per cent of them have not gone through the annual fitness tests, thus having been categorised as unfit. What remains further worrying is that auto-rickshaws, which are viewed as a major reason for fatal road accidents, account for the highest number of such vehicles, keeping to Road Transport Authority figures. And, such vehicles include public transport such as buses, minibuses and modified utility vehicles, whilst a significant number of such vehicles are goods carriers and privately-owned cars. Amidst the rush of the Eid-time journey, the movement of such vehicles is blamed for fatal road accidents. The Accident Research Institute director says that in addition to unfit vehicles, many old and damaged vehicles with paint jobs were put back on roads for profits.
A Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh report shows that 8,543 people died and 12,608 others became wounded in 6,359 road accidents across the country in 2024. The number of vehicles without fitness certificates has over the years increased, from 508,000 in January 2022 to 617,000 in April 2024, now having marked a slight decline. Of the unfit vehicles, the highest 205,000 are auto-rickshaws, 73,007 privately owned cars, 72,159 pickups, 57,041 trucks, 39,591 tractors, 30,538 microbuses, 20,868 buses, 14,386 modified utility vehicles and 11,185 minibuses. The state-owned transport agency says that its officials regularly conduct mobile courts and take action against unfit vehicles. But the number of vehicles without fitness on the road has largely increased, suggesting ineffectiveness of the drives. Road safety experts say that the Road Transport Authority should be held to account for the movement of vehicles without fitness on the road. They say that the agency should be blamed for letting vehicles without updated fitness certificates run on the road, putting out a call for structural reforms of institutions such as the police and the Road Transport Authority for positive changes. There are court orders for the road transport ministry and the police to keep unfit vehicles off the road. But the agencies appear to have failed to comply.
In such a situation, the government should make the Road Transport Authority and the police stop unfit vehicles from plying the road. This could be one step forward to make roads safe and to ensure an effective public transport system, with many other issues yet to be shored up.
