Amendment of Road Transport Act (2024): Whose fuel

Every person spends most of the time of day at his residence and at work if he is a worker and at school if he is a student. Inevitably travel between these two has to be done by road. When leaving home or returning home, you have to step on the road. For people, their homes and workplaces or schools are safe places, but roads are completely unsafe. People of Bangladesh walk with any kind of accident in mind while stepping on the road. Unregulated transport system, reckless traffic on roads and violence of transport owners-workers association have made the common people miserable. Man also lost the assurance of natural death. The procession of death on the road is getting longer and longer. For the first time in the country, the government agency BRTA has published the annual report of road deaths for the year 2023. According to their information, 14 people died on the road in a day. According to BRTA, 5,024 road deaths in 2023; 4,475 as police; 6,524 people according to Road Safety Foundation and 7,902 people according to jatri Kalyan Samiti. According to the data of Road Safety Foundation, 7 thousand 713 people died in road accidents in the country in 2022. The previous year in 2021, the death toll was 6,284. And in 2020 there were 5 thousand 431 people.

The Safe Road Movement of 2018 is a movement or public protest in Bangladesh demanding safe roads. In Dhaka on July 29, 2018, when two speeding buses collided on the airport road, two students of Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College were killed and 10 students were injured. The students organized human blockades, marches, road blockades, vehicle license checks, road traffic control and online activities to ensure safe roads, stricter laws on road safety and punishment of traffic violators. The student movement resulted in the enactment of a new road transport law, the declaration of a traffic week and changes in the recruitment and salary scheme of drivers. During the traffic week of August 5-14, 2018, about 180,000 cases were registered and a fine of Tk 7 crore 8 lakh was imposed. If we take this calculation to the year, we see that if the traffic action was in operation for 52 weeks of the year, the case would have been about 93 lakh 60 thousand and the fine would have been 268 crore 16 lakh taka. At that time, DMP declared the entire month of September as traffic awareness month and initiated reforms, but it did not succeed. Bus owners and drivers blamed bribery and extortion by police and transport leaders.

In the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1983, the punishments and fines were negligible. In 2018, new traffic laws increased fines and penalties based on offences. At the same time, the application of criminal provisions in the investigation and trial of crimes was ensured. The Road and Transport Act 2018 rules stipulated that the educational qualification for getting a driver's license should be at least 8th class pass and 5th class pass for assistants. If driving without a driving license, the driver is liable to imprisonment for 6 months and a fine of Tk 50,000 or both. Talking on a mobile phone while driving is punishable by 01 (one) month imprisonment and a fine of 5 (five) thousand taka. 03 (three) years of imprisonment, fine of tk.25,00,000/- (twenty five lakhs) for causing death or accident due to careless driving or speeding. This new law has special provisions for arrest. The police or concerned authorities can arrest without warrant in all cases where the punishment is 06 months and the fine is 50,000/- (fifty thousand) tk or above. In this act, it is said to reserve seats in public transport for women, children, disabled and elderly people and the provision of punishment for sitting or sitting in the said seats was also laid down. According to Section 105 of this Act, if any person is seriously injured or killed in any motor vehicle accident, the offense shall be punishable under the relevant section of the Penal Code. However, if a person is seriously injured or killed in an accident due to reckless or negligent causes, the provision has been made for imprisonment for a term not exceeding 05 (five) years or a fine of Tk.5,00,000/- or both. Section 110 of this Act provided for arrest without warrant in certain urgent cases. Section 108 of the Act provides for special procedures for the trial of certain offences. Section 117 of this Act discussed in detail about the cognizability, bailability and compensability of the crime and enforced the provision of appropriate action.

Although the Road Transport Act of 2018 was enacted by changing the Motor Vehicle Ordinance of 1983, its significant implementation was not observed. Road deaths did not stop for a single day. Traffic violence is not controlled. Even though a strict law was enacted in 2018, road accidents are on the rise from 2019 to this point in 2024. In such a situation, when the government is supposed to adopt a new process to stop the procession of death on the road, it has revised the Road Transport Act 2018 and is reducing the punishments and fines. The proposed Road Transport (Amendment) Act, 2024 is fatally suicidal; Which will prolong anarchy and insecurity on the roads.

The Cabinet approved the Road Transport (Amendment) Act, 2024 by amending at least 12 sections of the Road Transport Act, 2018 and reducing the jail-fine for drivers and assistants in most of the sections. According to the information obtained from the draft of the amendment law, punishments and fines have been reduced in sections 69, 70, 81, 84, 85, 86, 90, 98 and 105 of the law. At present, Sections 84, 98 and 105 of the Act are non-bailable. Sections 84 and 98 have been made bailable in the proposed Act.

Disobeying the traffic signal is punishable by a maximum of 1 month imprisonment or a maximum of 10,000 taka fine and in addition to the provision of 1 point deduction from the driver's fault index, the proposed law has reduced the fine to only 2,000 taka. In the proposed law, instead of 5 thousand Taka for the crime of transporting passengers, it is said to make it 1 thousand Taka. While there is a provision of maximum imprisonment of 6 months or a fine of Tk 50,000 for meter fraud, the proposed law has reduced it to 3 months of imprisonment and a fine of Tk 25,000. Although there is a provision of 3 months imprisonment and a fine of Tk 25,000 for the offense of driving a motor vehicle even after the driving license of a person has been suspended, revoked or cancelled, it is currently punishable by 3 months in jail and a fine of Tk 15,000. The crime related to preparation of driving license is punishable by a maximum of 2 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of Tk 5 lakh or both, but it has been said to keep it in jail for 2 years and a fine of Tk 3 lakh. In the existing law, if a person performs the duties of a conductor without a license, a maximum imprisonment of 1 month or a fine of 5 thousand taka has been provided. Added supervisor as well. The proposed law has reduced the penalty of 3 years imprisonment and a fine of Tk 3 lakh for carrying excess weight to 1 year of imprisonment and a fine of Tk 1 lakh along with deducting 1 point from the driver. In the existing law, the provision of 3 months imprisonment and a fine of 25 thousand taka has been reduced to 1 month imprisonment and a fine of 10 thousand taka for driving a motor vehicle polluting the environment. Moreover, in case of disobeying the instructions on how to drive under any conditions, the provision of 3 months imprisonment and 10 thousand taka fine has been reduced to 1 month imprisonment and 10 thousand taka fine.

In the Roads and Transport Act of 2018, the responsibility was given to the workers by keeping the interests of the owners in front. The real hope of the people was not reflected in that law. There is talk of punishment for not obeying traffic laws, but the reality is that traffic lights are not lit in the country. Road deaths are not only the responsibility of transport owners and workers but many people are involved here. For example, are law enforcement agencies enforcing the law properly? Did the engineer calculate properly? Is the licensing agency properly tested? It was important to take care of so many things. Apart from only on-the-spot fines to the drivers, departmental action was also necessary.

Nothing in the Act of 2018 appears to be against the interests of Transport Owners Association and Transport Workers Union or in conflict with the Constitution. Rather, it can be said that the real hope of the people was not reflected in the law. However, is the government amending the law to appease the transport owners and labor leaders and reducing the sentence instead of walking the path of actual implementation? The question is whether the law is in the interest of the people or in the interest of transport owners and labor leaders? Is not the ghost in Sarsh? If not, why BRTA has not been strengthened in all these years? Instead, why is the law being amended to reduce the punishment?

The name of a successful movement in the country in the last two eras is Safe Road Movement-2018. The narrowing of the law enacted through that historic movement is questioning the government. When the people of the country are worried about the safety of the roads, this amendment of the Road and Transport Act has become a joke with the people.

writer,

Muhammad Easin Taha

Advocate, columnist and human rights activist.

Mobile- 01781704368

Email- easintaha4@gmail.com