Lack Of Awareness Is Main Cause For Road Accidents: Home Minister

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan today said lack of awareness in public is the main reason behind road accidents across the country. "Driving while using mobile phones, over-speeding, lack of overhead bridges, violation of traffic laws, and sometimes, we also see negligence of traffic police which lead to accidents," he said at a programme organised by Nirapad Sarak Chai in the capital's Shilpakala Academy auditorium.

"Driving without a license, reckless driving --accidents happen due to these reasons," the minister said.

However, Asaduzzaman said, "As far as I can see, the main reason for road accidents is lack of awareness."

"Road accidents are a global phenomenon resulting in deaths and injuries," he said, adding that "We are working in order to lower the number of these incidents in our country."

"Accidents happen in every country, people die and get injured. But we have to work to bring down this number in Bangladesh," he said.

The minister said, "We want the accident rate to decrease. We want zero accidents, but we can't say we can achieve it. Many factors are involved here."

He said they want to ensure only skilled drivers operate vehicles on roads.

"A few days ago, police said most of the road accidents in the last 15 days was related to unfit vehicles. We are keeping an eye on it," he said.

The minister shared his personal experience of being involved in a road crash after the Liberation War, which shattered his hopes and opened the path to politics.

"I had an accident too. After the war, I had hopes. But the road accident shattered all my hopes. Allah closed one path and opened the way to enter politics for me," he said.